"All preventive measures to be taken in coordination with district administration": Odisha IGP Satyajit Nayak on Cyclone Arnab preparedness
Bhubaneswar, October 26
With preparations underway in view of Cyclone Arnab, Inspector General of Police, Central Range, Cuttack, Satyajit Nayak, said on Sunday that police and disaster response teams had been deployed in vulnerable coastal districts of Odisha and that all Superintendents of Police had been directed to take preventive measures and coordinate with the district administration to deal with any emergency.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that a cyclonic system brewing over the Bay of Bengal is set to intensify into a "very severe cyclonic storm" and hit the Andhra Pradesh coast on October 28, prompting the Odisha government to cancel leaves of all disaster personnel and mobilise 225 rescue teams on high alert across vulnerable districts.
Speaking to ANI, Nayak said four teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) had been deployed in each of the districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, and Khordha.
"I have conducted a review meeting with the SSPs of all seven districts in the range. They have been directed to take all preventive measures in close coordination with the district administration, ODRAF, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, and other agencies, including the Fire Services and Health Departments," Nayak said.
He said police personnel would be deployed in vulnerable, low-lying and flood-prone areas of the coastal districts as part of the preventive measures.
"I have also directed all SSPs to assist the district administration with rescue and evacuation operations and to relocate people to cyclone shelters whenever necessary. Traffic regulation and the clearance of waterlogged areas and fallen trees have also been prioritised to ensure the smooth movement of emergency vehicles. Preventive policing has been directed in the affected areas, particularly to prevent thefts in residential neighbourhoods," he added.
Highlighting the emergency response arrangements, Nayak said control rooms were operational round the clock in all districts and urged people to contact them in case of an emergency.
"Emergency control rooms are operational 24/7 in all districts. In case of an emergency, people can directly contact these control rooms, and the police will respond promptly," he said.
Earlier, Manorama Mohanty, Director of the Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, on Sunday, stated that although the cyclonic storm will make landfall in Andhra Pradesh, it will trigger severe weather, extremely heavy rainfall, and gusty winds across Odisha, particularly impacting its southern regions.
"As of now, the depression lies over east-central adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal, and it is very likely to intensify further into a deep depression by today, 25th October. It is also likely to intensify further and become a cyclonic storm by the morning of 26th October, and into a severe cyclonic storm on 27th October. Thereafter, it is very likely to move northwestward, intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm, and reach the west-central Bay of Bengal near the Andhra Pradesh coast around the morning of 28th October," Mohanty told ANI.
— ANI
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