Odisha evacuates 3,000 people as Montha heads towards Andhra

Bhubaneswar: Odisha govt on Monday evacuated 3,000 people from vulnerable areas as Cyclone Montha inched towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, triggering rain across Bhubaneswar and southern Odisha.The govt, which has set a target of evacuating around 35,000 people depending on the situation, also shifted 1,496 women in advanced stages of pregnancy to hospitals while the process to shift another 760 was on.As many as 140 teams from NDRF, ODRAF and fire services personnel have been deployed, while schools and anganwadi centres remain shut in eight red zone districts till Thursday. Authorities are closely monitoring Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri districts for possible landslides, with heavy rainfall forecast post-landfall near Kakinada on Tuesday evening.The districts likely to be most affected by heavy to extremely heavy rainfall include Malkangiri, Koraput, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kandhamal and Kalahandi.Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari said all government machinery is on high alert, with a goal of achieving zero casualty during the impending cyclone. “As many as 1,445 cyclone relief centres have been readied to shelter displaced residents,” the minister said.

Evacuation efforts are ongoing, with special attention to vulnerable groups such as the elderly and pregnant women. The govt aims to relocate vulnerable people to safer locations by Tuesday and has identified landslide-prone areas for emergency response. These measures are being implemented amid light to moderate rainfall and increasing wind activity in many parts of the state.IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said Cyclone Montha is expected to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast by Tuesday evening and will subsequently move towards Chhattisgarh via southern Odisha.

“Wind speed in affected Odisha districts are projected to reach 60-70 kmph, accompanied by very heavy rainfall over two days,” Mohapatra said.Pujari said since upper catchment of Hirakud dam in Chhattisgarh may receive heavy rain under the influence of Montha, the govt is closely monitoring the situation and would regulate Hirakud water in anticipation of possible flood.Currently located about 700 km from Gopalpur, Cyclone Montha is moving north-northwestward and is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm before making landfall between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada.The IMD has issued a red warning for very heavy rainfall — exceeding 20 cm — in districts such as Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur on Tuesday and Wednesday.An orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) has been issued for Kandhamal, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Balangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Khurda, Puri, Bargarh and Sambalpur.Meanwhile, a yellow warning for heavy rainfall is in effect for Angul, Dhenkanal, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Deogarh and Jharsuguda during the same period.