BHUBANESWAR: With Amphan intensifying into a massive super cyclone and expected to pass Odisha coast in around 36 hours, the State Government on Monday started the process of shifting a whopping 1.2 million people from the vulnerable areas of 12 districts along its coastline.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said Collectors of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh and Gajapati districts have been asked to evacuate people living in kutcha, thatched, tiled and asbestos houses and staying within five kilometers from the coastline to safer places. "As per latest reports, evacuation of people from vulnerable areas has started and we are targeting to complete the shifting by Tuesday afternoon," he said.
The SRC said 598 cyclone shelters in the coastal districts are ready. With the Covid situation posing a challenge, the Collectors have also been asked to send the people kept in Government quarantine centres to their homes (provided they have pucca houses) if they have tested negative for the virus.
Around 212 such temporary medical centres (TMCs) in the coastal districts will be converted to cyclone shelters. He said that the evacuation process will be intensified from Tuesday. Meanwhile, the State Government deputed four senior IAS officers to four districts likely to be severely affected by the super cyclone.
While Principal Secretary in the Commerce and Transport department Madhu Sudan Padhi will be in charge of Balasore, Chief Electoral Officer Sushil Kumar Padhi will be stationed in Bhadrak district.
Similarly, Principal Secretary in the Energy department Hemant Sharma and Secretary in the Higher Education department Saswat Mishra have been asked to proceed to Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts respectively.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness of states to tackle Amphan at a high level meeting in New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also talked to Collectors of 12 districts over the developing situation. Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also reviewed the situation.
As a precautionary measure, operations in Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur ports have been shut down. The SRC also requested boat owners to fasten their boats with each other along with rubber padding so that they are not damaged due to collision. The small boat owners have been requested to bring back their boats to the shore.
Along with NDRF and ODRAF teams, 30 Fire Service teams, with eight members each, have been requisitioned from other districts to be deployed in the vulnerable areas.
For post-cyclone restoration work, Executive Engineers of Public Works, Rural Development and Water Resources departments have been advised to keep 10-20 teams with necessary equipment like dozer and JCB and labourers for immediate repair and reconstruction of damaged roads.
For quick restoration of power supply, power distribution companies NESCO and CESU have been asked to keep their manpower and equipment ready.