Deep depression in Bay of Bengal | Odisha govt put all districts on alert

The depression over the Bay of Bengal on Sunday intensified into a deep depression and was slowly moving towards the east coast, prompting the Odisha government to put all 30 districts on alert, officials said. The IMD has stated that the cyclonic storm is very likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, around Kakinada, during the evening/night of October 28 as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph. Odisha will experience very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall on October 28 and 29, it said. The IMD has issued red, orange, and yellow alerts for several southern and coastal districts of Odisha, where rainfall above 20 cm could be experienced at isolated places. Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari said all 30 districts in the state have been put on alert with men and machinery ready for rescue and relief operations.

The minister said District Collectors have been directed to evacuate people from low-lying areas due to impending heavy rainfall and places likely to be hit by surface wind. He said 15 districts in the coastal and southern regions will be impacted by the impending cyclonic storm.

Meanwhile, about seven districts in southern and coastal areas have cancelled the leave of government employees, keeping in view the urgency of the situation. The IMD in its latest statement said, "The depression over southeast Bay of Bengal moved nearly west-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph during the past 6 hours, intensified into a deep depression, and lay centered at 5.30 am about 610 km west of Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), 790 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu), 850 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 840 km southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), and 950 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha)." "It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards, intensify further into a cyclonic storm over southwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to move northwestwards, then north-northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of October 28," it said.