Several coastal districts of Odisha have been put on high alert as the cyclonic storm ‘Titli’ is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours.
As a precautionary measure, the State government has ordered the closure of all educational institutes and anganwadi kendras in Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts from Wednesday till effects of the storm are over. A decision over closure of institutes in some other districts may be taken after a review of the situation on Wednesday.
High-level meeting
A high-level meeting was convened by the State chief secretary in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening to take stock of the situation and preparedness to face ‘Titli’.
The latest bulletin by the India Meteorological Department said the cyclonic storm was centred at 510 km from Gopalpur. This severe cyclonic storm is expected to move west-northward and make landfall between Gopalpur in south Odisha and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by October 11 morning. During the landfall, this severe cyclonic storm is expected to have a wind speed of 100 to 110 km/hr with gusts of up to 125 km/hr.
According to Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupad Sethi, people living in low lying coastal areas of Ganjam, Khurda and Puri districts may be evacuated to cyclone shelters on Wednesday if the need arises. Ganjam Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said vulnerable areas are being identified and people of these areas will be evacuated to safe multi-purpose shelters if needed.
Three hundred boats have been kept ready for emergencies. Six teams of National Disaster Response Force have been sent to Gajapati, Puri, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Jajpur and Bhadrak districts for rescue operations. Seven teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force are being deployed in Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Cuttack, Balasore, Mayurbhanj and Kalahandi districts.
The regional meteorological department on Tuesday gave ‘Red’ warning for Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts as heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in these places from Wednesday. ‘Orange’ alert has been issued for Khurda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Dhenkanal, Bhadrak and Balasore.
