Odisha Govt Takes Stock Of Cyclone Fani

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Monday took stock of Cyclone Fani and asked all line departments along with ODRAF and NDRF teams to be on alert to deal with any calamity situation.

A high-level review meeting in this connection was presided over by chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi at the state secretariat here. Among others, director-general of police (DGP) R. P. Sharma, special relief commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi and secretaries of all line departments were present at the meeting.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, the SRC said that as informed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), there will be rainfall in coastal Odisha from May 2, with squally wind speeds reaching 40-50 kmph with gusting up to 60kmph along and off the north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts.

“May 3 onwards the wind speed is likely to be 130-140 kmph, with gusting up to 150kmph over the west-central Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh coast and 50-60kmph with gusting up to 70kmph along and off the Odisha coast,” he said.

He also said that the IMD has informed the state government that it would provide updates on the cyclonic storm till May 4. Besides, it will also inform about its course of movement after the landfall after May 4.

The SRC also said that fishermen are advised not to venture into deep sea areas of north-west and the adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal along and off Odisha coast for two days, on May 2 and 3.

Quoting the IMD release, he said the cyclonic storm is now about 620km east-south-east of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, about 870km south-east of Chennai and 1,040 km south-south-east of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The SRC said Union cabinet secretary P.K. Sinha had reviewed the preparedness of coastal states, including Odisha, through video conferencing earlier in the day to deal with Cyclone ‘Fani’, which is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm.

IMD in its latest mid-day bulletin said the cyclonic storm is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next six hours and into a very severe cyclonic storm in the subsequent 24 hours. It is very likely to move north-westwards till 5.30pm on May 1 and thereafter gradually recurve towards the north-north-east direction.

Talking about measures the state government has taken in this regard, Sethi said the collectors of the coastal districts have been asked to ensure all facilities in 880 cyclone shelters. Apart from this, 20 units of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 12 units of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 335 fire station units have been kept in readiness. “Besides, we have kept 122 early warning systems installed along the coast area ready to receive information about the approaching cyclonic storm. We will also inform the people about the weather condition through SMS,” he said.