Odisha govt begins evacuation of people before Fani hits Puri

The government has deployed 28 NDRF teams and 20 ODRAF teams besides the 525 Fire Brigade teams for relief and rescue operation and to evacuate about 8 lakh people the people from the vulnerable areas, low lying areas and the villages located along the coast.

Official sources said the evacuation process will be completed by this evening.

Met sources said the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani over West-central Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards in the last six hours and lay centred about 430 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha), 260 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 700 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal).

It is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, around Puri during May 3 afternoon with a maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph.

The cyclone, official sources said is being tracked by Doppler Weather Radars Chennai, Vishakhapatnam & Machlipatanam.

The evacuation process from districts has started and about 8 to 10 lakh people are likely to be shifted to the safer places and 879 cyclone shelters by this evening.

The state government had posted 12 senior IAS officers and 11 IPS officers in the districts likely to be affected by the cyclone Fani to supervise the relief, rescue and restoration.

All educational intuitions were declared closed from today till further orders and the leave of all government employees, police personnel, doctors and paramedical staff have been cancelled and those on leave are asked to report to the headquarters forthwith.

The government has already sounded an alert in 17 districts which were likely to be affected by the impact of the cyclonic storm Fani as it makes landfall near the Puri coast and proceeds to other parts of the state before entering the neighbouring West Bengal.

All the tourists in Puri have been asked to leave by this evening and the government has arranged six bus services to take them to West Bengal since the East Coast Railways have cancelled as many as 103 trains from today between Howrah and Puri and Vijayanagaram.

The East Coast Railways has arranged a special train which will leave Puri at 1200 hours carrying the stranded tourists to Howrah as the government has asked all the tourists to leave Puri today. The hoteliers in Puri also have been asked not to book any room till May 5.