Bhubaneswar, Oct 27 (PTI) The Odisha government has started evacuating people from vulnerable places and deployed 128 disaster response teams in eight southern districts of the state as the deep depression
in the Bay of Bengal on Monday intensified into a cyclonic storm named ‘Montha’.
Keeping in view the formation of cyclone ‘Montha’, the state government has started the evacuation of people from vulnerable hilly and low-lying areas of eight southern districts, which could be impacted due to the impending calamity, Odisha Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said.
“The state government is well prepared to face the eventuality, and arrangements have been made in the possible impact areas. The administration will complete the process of evacuation of people from vulnerable places by 5 pm on Monday,” the minister said.
Though the cyclone will cross the Andhra Pradesh Coast, it will have an impact on Odisha’s southern and coastal regions, for which the state government has made all arrangements to save men and animals with a goal of ‘zero casualty’, Pujari said.
The minister said that ‘red warning’ (take action), predicting extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds (gusting up to 80 kmph), was issued for Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamal and Kalahandi districts.
As a precautionary measure, the state government has deployed over 5,000 highly skilled personnel in 24 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), five from NDRF and 99 Fire Service teams in these eight districts, the minister said, adding all the districts of the state have been directed to get ready with men and machinery for rescue operations, if at all the impending cyclone changes its trajectory.
The minister said that though rainfall will begin on Monday, the intensity of rain and wind will intensify on October 28 and 29.
The weather office also hoisted Distant Cautionary Signal No-I (DC-1) at all ports of Odisha and advised fishermen not to venture into the sea till October 29.
The IMD on its bulletin at 4 am of Monday said: “The cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ over Southwest and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal moved with a speed of 16 kmph during past 3 hours and lay centered at 2.30 am on October 27, at about 600 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu), 680 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 710 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 790 km west of Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), and 850 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha).” “It is likely to continue to move west-northwestwards over the Bay of Bengal during the next 12 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of 28th October. It is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam around Kakinada during evening/night of 28th October as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph,” the IMD said. PTI AAM AAM RG
