Bhubaneswar (Odisha):A red alert has been issued for seven districts of Odisha in view of cyclonic storm 'Gulab', the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said. Heavy to very heavy rainfall at few places with extremely heavy fall at one or two places is likely to occur over the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri, the IMD said.
Yellow warning has been issued for other districts -- Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Cuttack, Boudh, Sonepur, Bolangir, and Nuapada. According to IMD, the sea will be 'very rough to high' over northwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours. The system is likely to cross north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts between Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur today.
As cyclone Gulab is expected to make landfall on Sunday evening, the IMD has also issued an orange alert in Andhra Pradesh.
A senior scientist of IMD Bhubaneswar Umashankar Das said that the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal that intensified into cyclone Gulab is likely to move nearly westwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh - south Odisha coasts between Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur around midnight of September 26.
Earlier, the Director of IMD Kolkata informed that the cyclonic storm Gulab is likely to reach the West Bengal coast around September 29.
Also read:NDRF deploys 18 teams in AP, Odisha in view of impending cyclone
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had on Saturday held a review meeting on the preparedness in wake of the weather office report on cyclone alert and directed the officials to take all necessary steps for the safety of the people. Control rooms have been set up in village secretariats and disaster management staff have been put on alert in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam districts. The district collectors are taking steps to setup relief camps at required locations, the officials said.
Following the alert, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) division cancelled 24 trains under its jurisdiction. Below is the detailed list of the trains that have been cancelled, diverted and short-terminated.
Trains cancelled for 26 September
1. 08463 Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Prashanti Special from Bhubaneswar.
2. 02845 Bhubaneswar-Yesvantpur Special from Bhubaneswar.
3. 08969 Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Special from Bhubaneswar.
4. 08570 Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar Special from Visakhapatnam.
5. 07015 Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakhpatnama Special from Bhubaneswar.
6. 02071 Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Special from Bhubaneswar.
7. 08417 Puri-Gunupur Special from Puri.
8. 02859 Puri-Chennai Central Special from Puri.
9. 08521 Gurupur-Visakhapatnam Special from Gunupur.
10. 08522 Visakhapatnam-Gunupur Special from Visakhapatnam.
11. 08433 Bhubaneswar-Palasa Special from Bhubaneswar.
12. 08572 Visakhapatnam-Tata Special from Visakhapatnam.
13. 08518 Visakhapatnam-Korba Special from Visakhapatnam.
14. 08517 Korba-Visakhapatnam Special from Korba.