Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday chaired a virtual meeting in Delhi to review the preparedness of 'Cyclone Gulab' which is expected to hit the state by today evening.
The chief secretary of the state government, along with district collectors, also attended the meeting.
Addressing the media, Patnaik said, "Today I held a virtual meeting with the chief secretary and district collectors of Odisha to discuss the precautionary measure to be taken against 'Cyclone Gulab' in the state. There is a total of ten districts which will be affected by the cyclone by today evening."
Ahead of cyclone alerts issued by India Meteorological Department (IMD), Odisha has begun the evacuation drive in the state. Several National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams have been deployed in 11 coastal districts of south Odisha.
"We have deployed a total of 24 NDRF and 42 ODRAF teams in 11 coastal areas and south Odisha districts. More than 5,000 people were evacuated in Gajapati and Ganjam districts," Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said.
"In addition, schools and colleges of Ganjam, Gajapati and other districts will also be closed tomorrow," he added.
Presently, the state has been witnessing light rainfall since morning under the influence of Cyclone Gulab.
According to IMD, the cyclone is likely to cross south Odisha and north Andhra Pradesh around midnight today. "At 08.30 hrs IST of today, 'Gulab' over northwest and adjoining the west-central Bay of Bengal, centred near 18.4°N/86.4°E. To cross north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts between Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur, as a CS around mid-night of today," IMD said in a tweet.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor