Odisha state on Sunday afternoon watched the severe cyclonic storm ‘Hudhud’ pass through the State with a sense of relief as wind speed dropped substantially.
The State government, however, is gearing up to face possible flood situation which could be caused by heavy rain under influence of ‘Hudhud’ over next 36 hours.
“The wind speed was expected between 90 kmph and 120 kmph in Malakanagiri, Gajapati, Korpaput, Ganjam and Rayagada districts. But the speed as being reported from all districts was varying between 50 and 60 kmph,” said P. R. Mohapatra, Deputy Special Relief Commissioner here on Sunday.
“The intensity of rainfall was also not in the range as was being apprehended. In Ganjam and Gajapati dustricts, during past 24 hours, average 30 mm rainfall had been recorded compared to 50 mm in north coastal districts. However, we are expecting heavy rain during next 36 hours,” Mr. Mopapatra said.
Prafulla Kumar Pangi, MLA of Pottangi in Koraput district, said the wind speed grew stronger after noon and heavy rain also began around same time. Hudhud would touch major parts of Koraput district.
Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre pointed out that there was slight change in a patch of Hudhud. The cyclone was earlier predicted to hit Malkangiri district. Now it curved away and was passing through Koraput and Nabarangpur. It will finally enter neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
Karunakar Pradhan, Block Development Officer of K. Guma Block in Malkangiri district, which is about 70 km air distance away from Visakhapatnam, heaved a sigh of relief. Under this bordering block, a sizeable population permanently lives encircled by vast sheet of water. Had the cyclone impacted as was being apprehended, it would have affected tribals in the land mass, known as Cut-Off Area, badly. Villagers mostly tribal depend on boats to remain connected with rest of the world.
“We are neither experiencing any strong wind nor heavy rainfall at this moment. However, we had pre-positioned employees and food material to deal with the situation,” Mr. Pradhan said a little while ago.
At Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of the situation. “We are closely monitoring the situation and will take appropriate steps keeping in mind the impact,” Mr. Patnaik said.
The State government had evacuated more than 60,000 people since Sunday morning. The evacuation was being done in view of possible flood situation in some pockets of southern districts.
Mr. Mohapatra said, “Water level of reservoirs in Southern Odisha has been brought down to adjust additional inflow of rainwater in event of extreme rainfall. Water level in all minor irrigation projects in region was reduced by half. Hirakud Reservoir’s water level was measured at 625 feet. If it rains heavily in Chhattisgarh, which is upper catchment of Mahanadi, we could manage entry of flood water.”
