Odisha gears up for severe Cyclone Fani

Bhubaneswar A massive exodus was under way in coastal Odisha on Thursday as thousands of people left their home and hearth on foot and by vehicles to escape the fury of cyclone Fani in probably the largest evacuation ahead of a natural disaster in the countryIndia Meteorological Department IMD sources said it is also the first cyclonic storm of such severity to have formed in April in Indias oceanic region in 43 years Over 115 lakh people in vulnerable low lying areas of 13 districts are being shifted to cyclone shelters and other safe houses in arguably the largest evacuation ever before an impending natural calamityPeople from coastal regions were evacuated in large numbersNearly 35 lakh people have already been evacuated to safety official sources said Evacuation is in progress on a warfooting Around 30 per cent of the targeted people have so far been moved to safe places said a senior officialFani according to sources has gathered speed and is rolling menacingly towards Odisha coast clocking 16 km per hour It is likely to make a landfall close to Gopalpur near Puri between 810 amSatellite image of the cycloneNavy Air Force and Coast Guard have already been put on high alert to meet any eventuality apart from NDRF Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and fire service deployed in vulnerable areasLeave of all doctors and health officials and police have been cancelled till May 15 and those on leave have been asked to immediately report for duty officials said Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness to tackle the situation that might obtain once the cyclone makes the landfallEmergency control is to operate roundtheclock with helpline number for guiding passengers No staff is to be allowed to go on leave for the next three days the railways said in New DelhiIndias biggest oil and gas producer ONGC has evacuated close to 500 of its employees from offshore installations in the Bay of Bengal and moved drilling rigs to safer locationsOperations at Paradip port in Odisha and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh have been shut and ships have been ordered to move out to sea to avoid damageThe cyclone is likely to cross Puri around noon and move towards West Bengal before weakening and tapering off It is however still likely to impact parts of the northeast with Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu It will likely hit at least 14 Odisha districtsArrangements have been made to start free kitchens for the evacuees Over one lakh dry food packets have been kept ready for air dropping Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed to the people not to panic1 lakhNo of dry food packets kept ready for air dropping16kmphSpeed of winds approaching Odisha115lakhNo of people being evacuated to safer placesNDRF positions54 rescue teamsThe NDRF has prepositioned its 54 rescue and relief teams along the coast and in floodprone areas in the wake of the cyclone There are 12 teams in Andhra Pradesh two in Andaman and Nicobar two in Jharkhand two in Kerala 28 in Odisha two in Tamil Nadu and six teams in West BengalAnother 31 teams are on alert mode tooWest Bengal put under Yellow AlertParts of West Bengal have been put on high alert The IMD has issued a Yellow Alert warning for Odisha West Bengal and three districts of Andhra Pradesh Fishermen have been asked not to venture out into the sea till May 5Flights trains stand cancelledMore than 100 trains have been cancelled as precaution while three special trains have been pressed into service to ferry stranded passengers from affected areas Flights to and from Bhubaneswar airport have been cancelled for May 3Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates