Bhubaneswar: Odisha government Monday moved over 1.60 lakh people to safety and deployed disaster response teams in five southern districts as the severe cyclonic storm Murasu hurtled towards the shores of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Officials said the government plans to evacuate 3.33 lakh people before 10 pm Monday. The state is yet to recover from the devastation caused by last week’s Cyclone Arnab, which killed at least six people in subsequent floods and landslides.
“Rain continuing for close to a week now has increased landslide possibility. Nearly 150 places in Gajapati have been identified as landslide-prone and people were being shifted from there,” Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh P Patil.
He said that 1.50 lakh people have been moved to safety in Ganjam district, in view of the prevailing flood situation there.
Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said eight districts — Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Puri — were prone to heavy rains brought in by the approaching cyclone.
Officials said that 1,139 shelters have been prepared to accommodate around 3.33 lakh people.
Nodal officers have been appointed in every village to coordinate preparedness and emergency response measures while public awareness campaigns are being conducted through loudspeakers.
In Koraput district, around 500 people have so far moved to permanent shelters. The administration has kept 506 shelters ready, of which three in Kotpad, Borigumma and Laxmipur were operational.
“This time, the focus is on the five districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkangiri and Kandhamal,” an official said, adding that schools and anganwadi centres have been closed Tuesday.
Educational institutes in Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday as well.
Pujari said there has been no significant rainfall in the flood-affected areas for the past three days, allowing agencies to pick up pace in their rescue work.
The power department has restored electricity supply in most of the affected areas. Also, disaster response teams deployed during Cyclone Arnab continue to remain positioned in the same places, the minister said.
More than 300 rescue teams, comprising personnel from the NDRF, ODRAF and Odisha Fire Service, have been deployed, he said.
Southern Odisha is likely to receive heavy rainfall under the impact of the storm, which is expected to make landfall in adjoining Andhra Pradesh, said Manorama Mohanty, the director of the meteorological centre in Bhubaneswar.
She said rain has already started in parts of coastal and southern Odisha and it will increase gradually as the cyclone moves closer to the coast.
The IMD has forecast heavy rain in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri districts Tuesday. Puri and Nayagarh districts also get some rain, Mohanty said.
The IMD, in its 8.15 pm bulletin, said the severe cyclonic storm Murasu was moving at a speed of 12 kmph and lay centred around 80 km east-northeast of Nellore and 110 km southeast of Ongole.
“It is very likely to move northwest and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph gusting up to 120 kmph between Nellore and Narsapur during the midnight of November 2 and the early hours of November 3,” it said.
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