Cyclone Montha: Govt gears up evacuation as IMD issues 'red alert' for south Odisha coast

Bhubaneswar, Oct 27 (PTI) The Odisha government geared up evacuation of people from vulnerable places amid inclement weather in eight southern districts where a "red alert" has been sounded, as the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal on Monday intensified into cyclonic storm 'Montha' and rolling towards east coast at a speed of 15 kmph, officials said.

The state government, which had earlier deployed 128 rescue teams from NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Service, further augmented it to 140 teams keeping in view of the requirement, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said after reviewing the situation in the evening.

He said 3,000 people and 1,496 pregnant women were shifted to the safer places by 5 PM of Monday ahead of the cyclone hitting the neighouring Andhra Pradesh coast near Kakidana on Tuesday evening or night.

“We have a target of evacuating 32,528 people from the vulnerable low lying areas and hilly terrain as the state government has set the ‘zero casualty’ target in the impending calamity. The state government has opened 1445 cyclone shelters to house the people when the cyclonic storm (CS) passes through Odisha districts after making landfall in Kakinada area as a severe cyclonic storm (SCS),” Pujari said.

Noting that local people's representatives, Anganwadi and ASHA workers and others are convincing the people living in vulnerable areas to shift to safer places, the minister said the evacuation is going on with priority on pregnant women, elderly people and persons with disabilities.

"Arrangements have been made at cyclone shelters, including food, medicine, lighting for people and care for domestic animals,” he said, adding that 760 other women, who are on the advance stage of pregnancy, would be shifted to nearby hospitals soon.

Though the cyclone will hit the AP coast, it will have an impact on eight southern Odisha districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kalahandi and Kandhamal - for which a red alert was issued.

Pujari said special attention is being given to the hilly areas, particularly in Gajapati district, where there is a possibility of landslides. The district administration of Gajapati has identified 139 vulnerable places for landslide.

He said that though rainfall has started in those eight districts and also in some areas in coastal belt including Bhubaneswar on Monday, the intensity of rain and wind will increase on October 28 and 29 as forecast by the IMD.

Pujari said that the reports of pre-cyclone light rains came from the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Gajapati and Ganjam due to the impact of cyclone 'Montha' that has started moving towards the east coast at a speed of 18 kmph.

Montha means fragrant flower or beautiful flower in Thai language.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) D K Singh said the schools and anganwadi centres in nine districts have been closed till October 30 for the evolving situation.

He said restrictions have been imposed in different sea beaches and no tourist is allowed to enter the sea. Most of the fishermen have already returned to the shore much before the cyclone “Montha” hits the land mass on Tuesday, he said.

According to the “Red Message” bulletin issued for Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and adjoining South Odisha coasts by the IMD at 8.30 PM, “The Cyclonic Storm Montha over westcentral and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal moved northwestwards with a speed of 15 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered at 5.30 PM at about 450 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 500 km south of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 670 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha).” “The system is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam around Kakinada during evening/night of 28th October as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph,” the IMD said.

From October 28 evening, the wind speed in Odisha’s southern coast will remain about 60 kmph to 70 kmph with gusting speed of 80 kmph.

The impact will remain in force till the system crosses Odisha territory and moves towards Chhattisgarh as a cyclonic storm.

Meanwhile, the East Coast Railway has announced cancellation, diversion, and short termination of some trains operating in the Waltair region and connected routes.

The minister said all the districts are on alert and directed to get ready with men and machinery for operations, if at all the cyclone changes its trajectory.

He said the SRC is in touch with the Indian Coast Guard and may hire their chopper if there is a requirement.

Some fishing vessels of Andhra Pradesh have been sheltered in Ganjam district. The leaves of government employees have been cancelled in the identified 8 districts till October 30.

He said power backup has also been made in all critical institutions like hospitals and drinking water supply units.

"Arrangements are made to restore electricity within 24 hours of the cyclone," the SRC said adding that the water resources department has been regulating different reservoirs as the state is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on October 28 and 29.

Distant Cautionary Signal No-I (DC-1) has been hoisted at all ports of Odisha and fishermen advised not to venture into the sea till October 29, the SRC said. PTI COR AAM RG AAM NN