BHUBANESWAR: The special relief commissioner’s (SRC) office on Friday asked collectors to remain alert and prepared for a cyclone brewing over the Bay of Bengal. Though the tropical storm will spare Odisha, it will trigger heavy rains in Bhadrak, Balasore and Kendrapara districts on Saturday.
Parts of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj districts are likely to experience heavy rains on Sunday.
A few places in the state may experience light to moderate rainfall activity in the next two days under the influence of the system. The system intensified into a depression on Friday morning. It is expected to intensify into a cyclonic storm over east-central Bay of Bengal on Saturday. Continuing to move nearly northwards, it is likely to cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara around Sunday midnight as a severe cyclonic storm, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Meanwhile, the Met office said hot weather is unlikely to prevail when the state goes to polls in the third phase on Saturday. Bhubaneswar may witness partly cloudy conditions with one or two spells of rain/thundershowers in the next 24 hours. Maximum day temperature is likely to hover around 34 degree Celsius in the capital city on Saturday.
Indian Coast Guard’s remote operating stations in Haldia and Paradip are broadcasting regular and multilingual very high frequency alerts advising transit merchant mariners to take necessary precautions.
Nine disaster relief teams have been positioned at strategic locations, including in Haldia, Paradip and Gopalpur to provide immediate assistance in case of an emergency.