Bhubaneswar: As Cyclone Dana approaches the Odisha coast, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi conducted a comprehensive review of the state’s preparedness on Thursday. During the review, Majhi discussed evacuation and rescue operations with officials from the affected districts, expressing confidence in the state's readiness.
“We are prepared to face any situation,” said the Chief Minister. More than 3 lakh people have already been evacuated to safety, with the target set at relocating 3.62 lakh individuals.
The evacuation is concentrated across 11 districts expected to be impacted by the storm. Around 1,653 people have been relocated from high-risk areas.
The state has activated 7,285 cyclone shelters, including 842 multipurpose and 6,043 temporary shelters. Additionally, 2,338 pregnant women have been shifted to medical centres for their safety. Rescue teams are on the ground, with 19 NDRF teams, 51 ODRAF teams, 220 fire service units, and 158 platoons of police deployed across the state. Police are also patrolling affected villages, ensuring safety and enforcing evacuations. Precautions have been taken to ensure power supply in hospitals, with teams ready to handle outages expected during the storm’s landfall.
Senior IAS officers are monitoring the situation at the village level in all affected districts. The deputy chief ministers KV Singhdeo and Pravati Parida are also visiting various cyclone centres in Kendrapara and Puri to oversee the arrangements.
Cyclone May Take a Recurve: Regional Met Office
Speaking to media persons, Director of Regional Met Centre in Bhubaneswar Dr Manorama Mohanty on Thursday said heavy to extreme heavy rainfall has begun in some places. While Chandbali in Bhadrak district has recorded 46.2 mm rainfall, Paradip 62.9 mm, Jagatsinghpur 27 mm, Rajkanika in Kendrapara 27 mm, Nilagiri in Balasore 27 mm and Betnoti in Mayurbhanj has so far received 19 mm rainfall. The rainfall activity is likely to increase close to the landfall hours and immediately after, she warned.
