Cyclone Fani may hit Odisha on May 3, state government braces up

BHUBANESWAR: Cyclone Fani, which is likely to intensify into an ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm’ may hit Odisha coast on May 3, said India Meteorological Department (IMD). The state government has geared up its machinery to face the cyclone as heavy rain and strong wind will start in several parts of the state from May 2.
“Cyclone Fani is moving towards Odisha coast and will also make landfall in the coast.The exact point of landfall will be ascertained by Tuesday morning,” said additional director general of IMD, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra.
The Cyclone Fani was located at about 840km east-south east of Chennai (TamilNadu) and 990km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (AndhraPradesh). It is very likely to intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during next six hours and into a very severe cyclonic storm during subsequent 24 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards till May 1 and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards towards Odisha coast, the IMD bulletin said.
“Thunder squall with speed reaching 50-60 km per hour gusting into 60 km per hour and lightning activities likely to occur over coastal districts of Odisha on May 2 and 3. The maximum speed of wind may reach 160-170 km per hour gusting to 185 at the coast,” IMD said.
Chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi convened a high level meeting on Monday and asked to start all preparedness for the upcoming calamity. “We are keeping a close watch on the movement of the cyclonic storm. All possible precautionary measures are being taken to ensure zero casualties,” said Padhi.
CM Naveen Patnaik also took stock of preparedness by state administration in view of Cyclone Fani at the state secretariat in the evening.
Prime minister Narendra Modi also tweeted about the ensuing cyclone and wrote: “Spoke to officials regarding the situation arising due to Cyclone Fani. Asked them to take preventive measures and be prepared to provide all possible assistance. Also urged them to work closely with Governments of the affected states. Praying for everyone's safety and well-being.”
Coastal districts of Ganjam, Puri, Khurda and Kendrapada are on high alert where district administrations have cancelled holidays of all government staff and asked them to remain in district headquarters. They have been asked to keep adequate stock of medicine, food and drinking water for the emergency likely to be caused by the cyclone. People residing in coastal areas will be cautioned from April 30, while pregnant women will be brought to hospital in advance.
“As many as 20 teams of ODRAF, 12 units of NDRF and over 300 fire services units have been kept on alert for the ensuing cyclone and will be deployed in coastal areas of the state,” said special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi. “This is an unusual phenomenon for formation of a cyclone at Bay of Bengal at this time of the year. Besides, the system originated near equator and travels a huge distance. We are keeping an eye on various different weather models and the movement of the cyclone,” he added.
Fishermen, who are out in deep sea are advised to return to coast by Tuesday and are advised not to venture into deep sea from May 1. Distance warning signal has been hoisted at all ports of Odisha.
Union cabinet secretary P K Sinha chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee at New Delhi and discussed about the cyclone preparedness with chief secretaries of different state governments through video conferencing.