Bhubaneswar: As very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is set to make landfall on Wednesday, Odisha government has chalked out a plan to evacuate over 48,000 people from vulnerable areas across eight districts as part of measures to ensure safety of people in vulnerable areas.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said on Tuesday that district administrations have been asked to make necessary arrangements to ensure the safety of people living in vulnerable areas. District collectors are overseeing evacuation and preparedness measures.
Of the 48,000 people identified for evacuation, around 11,000 each are from Nabarangpur and Gajapati districts, 9,850 from Malkangiri, 6,500 from Ganjam, 5,000 from Koraput, 300 from Rayagada, 2,415 from Kalahandi and 1,675 from Nuapada.
Evacuation has already been carried out in some places, and the process will continue throughout the day. Senior IAS officers and ministers have been assigned to oversee preparedness measures in the affected districts, he said.
The state government has released Rs 19 crore to the districts for relief and preparedness operations. Ganjam has received Rs 5 crore, while Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Kandhamala have been allocated Rs 2 crore each, Patil said.
Around 4,000 metric tonnes of cattle feed have also been arranged and pre-positioned in Koraput and Cuttack for distribution to affected areas as required.
To strengthen emergency response, 48 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams, eight National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and 225 fire and emergency services teams have been deployed. Additional teams have been kept on standby at Koraput, Chhatrapur and Mundali to respond to emergencies, he said.
Patil said the government was closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with district administrations to ensure that all necessary precautionary measures were in place.
He urged people living in vulnerable areas to cooperate with officials during evacuation operations and follow advisories issued by the authorities.
The SRC also appealed to the media to disseminate accurate information from official sources and refrain from circulating unverified reports about the cyclone.