Cyclone Amphan: 10 NDRF, 15 ODRAF units positioned in coastal Odisha

As many as 10 NDRF teams and 15 ODRAF units have been pre-positioned in the coastal districts of Odisha to meet any eventuality due to the cyclone Amphan, said an official on Sunday.

20 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF), 17 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 335 units of Fire and Disaster Management are in readiness to be pressed into service.

While 10 NDRF teams and 15 ODRAF units have been pre-positioned in 6 coastal and 4 nearby districts, further deployment will be planned after getting information from the IMD about the path of the cyclone, said Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena.

He said concerned departments and 12 coastal and adjoining districts-Gajapati, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj-have been advised to undertake required preparedness measures to effectively handle the disaster.

Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts have been instructed to remain fully prepared, said the SRC.

Odisha is likely to receive heavy rain under the influence of severe cyclonic storm Amphan, which is predicted to skirt away from the northern coast of the state and make landfall between West Bengal and Bangladesh.

According to the IMD, rainfall will commence in Odisha from May 18 with heavy rainfall likely to occur at isolated places over the district of Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara.

Jena said the district collectors have been asked to plan for evacuation people living in vulnerable areas to safer places, if needed.

Besides, the officials have been directed to prepare plan for early restoration of affected road communication, drinking water, electricity, infrastructure and an uninterrupted power supply to hospitals.

As preparedness measure for possible cyclone, 567 cyclone shelters and 7000 pucca buildings have been identified to accommodate about 11 lakh people.

In view of cyclone Amphan, Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar AC special train starting from Bhubaneswar from 19th to 22nd May and starting from New Delhi from 18th to 21st May will run on diverted route via Bhubaneswar-Angul-Sambalpur City-Jharsuguda-Rourkela-Tata bypassing Bhadrak-Balasore-Hijli route.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) said passengers going from and coming to Baleswar/Hijli (Kharagpur) will not get service of this train for 4 days.