New Delhi: The Mohan Charan Majhi-led Odisha government has announced the closure of all educational institutions in six southern districts and started moving people from vulnerable areas to safety as severe cyclonic storm Arnab headed towards making landfall on October 28.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), in its latest statement, said the cyclone was very likely to continue to move west-northwestwards and intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm over the same region during the next 12 hours.
“It is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam as a very severe cyclonic storm with the maximum sustained wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting up to 140 kmph by the forenoon of October 28.”
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that though the severe cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Andhra Pradesh and Yanam in Puducherry, Odisha would be heavily impacted, witnessing very heavy rainfall and winds gusting up to 80 kmph.
“We do not want to take any chance and therefore made preparations at the highest level to protect life and property based on Odisha’s ‘zero casualty’ policy during the calamities,” Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari told reporters.
Here are some of the key details:
- Fishing in the sea and tourist entry into hills, waterfalls, dams, and scenic destinations across the vulnerable six districts have also been banned.
- Odisha government has already mobilised its men and machinery in the six vulnerable southern Odisha districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Koraput and Nabarangpur.
- Eight ministers and experienced senior officers have been deputed to separate places to monitor preparations.
- All cyclone centres, along with some temporary ones, have been readied to house the people being removed from the low-lying and vulnerable areas.
- In the first phase, pregnant women, the elderly, persons with disabilities and children are being shifted to the cyclone shelters
- Rescue teams, comprising personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), the Fire and Emergency Services and the police, have been pre-positioned at vulnerable areas
Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil has said that the state was in touch with the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force to avail their assistance, if needed. Pujari said that after landfall, the cyclone is projected to move to certain areas within Odisha’s territory and cause heavy rainfall and gale-force winds. The state government is “fully prepared to tackle the situation”, and there is no reason to panic, the minister said.
“Fishing in the sea has been banned, while tourist entry into hills, waterfalls, dams, and scenic destinations across the vulnerable six districts has also been banned,” he said, adding that landslides are a major concern for the state when the cyclone hits in the eastern ghat areas.