It is now clear that the impending cyclonic storm over
the Bay of Bengal is unlikely to make landfall in Odisha, but it may trigger
heavy rains coupled with gusty winds in some parts of the State, the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, “The cyclone will not make landfall as
the system is more likely to move parallel to the Odisha-Andhra coast.”
The Regional Office of the IMD here said the well-marked low pressure
system over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman Sea has
turned into a depression.
The system would subsequently intensify into a cyclonic storm over east
central Bay of Bengal by Sunday. The system is likely to continue to move
northwestwards till May 10 evening and reach west-central and adjoining
northwest Bay of Bengal off the north Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast.
“Thereafter, it is very likely to re-curve north-northeastwards and move
towards northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast,” said the IMD.
The wind speed over Odisha, north Andhra Pradesh would be around 60
kmph from May 10. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea
due to its rough conditions.
“Several parts of coastal Odisha will experience light to moderate rainfall
under the influence of the cyclonic storm. We have issued alert for heavy
rainfall (7 to 11 cm) for Ganjam, Puri and Gajapati districts on May 10,” the
IMD said.
The weather office has forecast heavy rains for the districts of Ganjam,
Khordha, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack in the range of 7 to 11 cm.
However, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena said arrangements
have been made to evacuate 7.5 lakh people in 18 districts if any such
emergency situation arises out of the impending cyclonic storm.
“There are 862 permanent cyclone centres in 18 districts. These centres can
accommodate 1.5 to 1.6 lakh people with adherence to Covid-19 rules.
Likewise, 6,661 buildings have been identified as temporary centres which
can house about 6 lakh people. Thus, we have arrangements to evacuate 7.5
lakh people,” Jena said.
“Though the prediction by the IMD so far has given some kind of relief, we
have not lowered our preparedness,” he added.