Odisha Braces: Low Pressure Area Over South Andaman Sea Intensifies Further

Bhubaneswar: The low pressure area over South Andaman sea and its neighbourhood has further intensified and is likely to become a depression on Saturday, the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar said.

A satellite image tweeted by the regional Met centre on Saturday morning shows clouds intensifying around the low pressure area. Wind speed has also picked up in the area, the Met Centre said.

A cyclonic storm is likely to form by May 8 evening and move northwestwards, reaching west central Bay of Bengal off north Andhra­Odisha coasts by May 10. The place and time of landfall is not clear yet.

Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena on Friday evening said that the state government was fully prepared for relief and rescue operations if the cyclone heads towards Odisha.

Collectors of 18 districts have been asked to undertake all measures and stay prepared. As many as 17 NDRF, 20 ODRAF and 175 fire services teams are on high alert.

Appealing to people not to panic, Jena advised fishermen not to venture into the sea after May 8 and asked those in deep seas to return to the coast. Indian Navy and Coast Guard are maintaining vigil on movement of fishermen.