Odisha On Zero Casualty Mission Against Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Titli

Bhubaneswar: With cyclone Titli intensifying into a very severe cyclonic storm on Wednesday and is most likely to cross the Gopalpur coast early on Thursday, the Odisha government has directed the departments concerned to ensure zero casualty.

Presiding over a high-level review meeting at the State Secretariat here, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the officials to expedite evacuation of the people living in the low-lying areas in Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts to the multi-purpose calamity shelters with the provision of food and drinking water for them.

He also directed the departments concerned to ensure proper sanitation measures and power supply at these shelters.

The department authorities have been asked to cancel the leave of government employees and recall those on leave.

He also directed the departments concerned to take up repair of the damaged roads, restoration of power and drinking water supply and alternative arrangement of power to the water supply centres in the affected districts in the aftermath of the cyclone.

Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said the process of evacuation of people in the low-lying areas of the five aforesaid districts has begun with 753 persons in Ganjam districts have been shifted to the multi-purpose calamity shelters.

He also said that the NDRF and the ODRAF teams have been deployed in all vulnerable districts.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi, who was also present in the meeting, told the media that the state-level and the district-level control rooms and the control rooms have been functioning round-the-clock.

He said the district collectors have been asked to shift the people in the low-lying areas to the multi-purpose calamity shelters. There are a total of 836 shelters in the state at present, he added.

“For relief and rescue operations, the NDRF teams have been deployed in Gajapati, Puri, Kendrapara, Nayagarh, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts while the ODRAF teams have been deployed in Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Kalahandi districts. Besides, both the teams are also stationed in all district headquarters,” the SRC informed.

The member-secretary of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had a conversation with the state government on Wednesday, informing that the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force team are kept ready to take up relief and rescue operations, he added.

Water Resources secretary Pradip Jena said that since the IMD has predicted extremely heavy rainfall in south Odisha, there is a possibility of flood in Rushikulya and Bansadhara rivers and their tributaries. Besides, water level of other major rivers including Mahanadi, Brahmani, Baitarani, Subarnarekha and Budhabalanga is most likely to rise.

He also said that the department has kept a close watch on the weak embankments of these rivers.