People look out towards the sea from a closed beach in Puri, Odisha. (AFP photo)

BHUBANESWAR: More than a million people are being moved to safety as a tense Odisha battens down the hatches to take on the might of the “extremely severe” cyclone Fani , which is set to make landfall near Puri between 8am and 10am on Friday.

An estimated 10,000 villages and 52 towns in Odisha will come in the path of the cyclone, which could see winds gusting up to 225 kmph, the Union home ministry said after PM Narendra Modi held a top level meeting on Thursday to assess preparations for the cyclone.

This could be the first time since the 1999 Super Cyclone that the state would bear the brunt of such a severe storm. The 1999 cyclone killed nearly 10,000 people and battered the state with winds of 270-300 kmph. Cyclone Fani is expected to remain “extremely severe” for four to six hours after landfall, IMD officials said in New Delhi. It will then gradually weaken.

The meteorological department warned of “total destruction” of thatched huts and kutcha houses, major damage to roads and crops, the uprooting of power poles and potential danger from flying objects as the storm moves north-northeastwards after landfall and sweeps through Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Balasore districts before moving to neighbouring West Bengal.

Around 8 lakh people were evacuated from low-lying areas by 7pm on Thursday and more are being shifted to the safety of storm shelters in coastal areas.

Rail, road and air traffic have been completely suspended in coastal districts. Flight operations at the Biju Patnaik International Airport have been suspended for 24 hours from Thursday midnight while more than 200 trains have been cancelled. Operations at Paradip, Gopalpur and Dhamra ports have been closed since Thursday.

The Election Commission of India has, meanwhile, lifted the model code of conduct from 11 districts to facilitate rescue and relief measures. It has also approved shifting of polled EVMs of four assembly constituencies in Gajapati and Jagatsinghpur districts to safer places.

Apart from the massive evacuation operations for cyclone Fani, the state government has appealed to the public to remain indoors on Friday morning and not to come out till the storm passes over.

All educational institutions, commercial establishments, shops and offices will remain closed on Friday morning while movement of vehicles has been restricted. “The state government is fully prepared to tackle the cyclone. Each life is precious for us,” chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, appealing to the people not to panic.

According to the India Meteorology Department (IMD) forecast at 5.30pm on Thursday, the cyclone lay centred at about 275 km south-southwest of Puri.

District officials have identified 117 and 107 probable flood inundation villages under Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers respectively, if they receive more than 1 lakh cusecs of flood water. People from these villages would be evacuated.

The entire state administration is on its toes to minimize the damage and loss of lives in the impending calamity. Patnaik held a series of meetings with district collectors and senior officials and was briefed on the state’s preparedness. He also asked top executives of telecom operators to ensure immediate restoration of telecommunication lines in the aftermath of the disaster. Senior bureaucrats including top police officers have been assigned to oversee relief, rescue and restoration work.

The government has set up 4,852 cyclone and flood shelters, where evacuees have been provided with cooked food. As many as 604 women, who are at advanced stages of pregnancy, have been shifted to maternal care centres. The health department has formed 302 rapid response teams comprising health officials to provide first aid to affected persons.

Three Navy ships — Sahyadri, Ranvir and Kadmatt — have been kept ready with relief material and medical teams so that they can become the first responder and commence rescue operation as soon as the cyclone crosses the coast. Additional relief material, medical teams and diving squads have been shifted from Visakhapatnam to Odisha by road on Thursday evening to augment the rescue and relief efforts. Aircraft and helicopters have been kept on standby for immediate deployment to carry out aerial survey, aid in rescue operation and for air-dropping relief material as and when required.

Over 300 boats have also been kept ready to be engaged in the rescue and relief work to deal with the flood situation which could follow the cyclone.

In Andhra Pradesh, about 25,000 people took shelter in various relief campus set up in 12 cyclone-prone mandals of Srikakulam district on Thursday.

A total of 6,000 new electric poles are on standby in case of any damage to the poles.



In Video: Cyclone Fani: East Coast Railway cancels 74 trains, alert issued by weather dept