Bhubaneswar: The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-positioned 18 teams at Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj while 4 teams are on standby at the NDRF’s 3rd Battalion Headquarters in Mundali, Director General, NDRF, Satya Narayan Pradhan said.
The low-pressure area in the North Andaman Seas likely to intensify as Cyclonic Storm, ‘Yaas’ during the next 24 hours over the Bay of Bengal and moving North Westerly direction and likely to cross the coast between North Odisha and West Bengal around 26 May.
“The Odisha Government has sought 10 more NDRF teams to be stationed in different parts of the coastal and interior coastal districts. By today evening these teams will be airlifted to Odisha from other States,” Mr.Pradhan added.
Development Commissioner-cum-Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Kumar Jena visited Balasore on Sunday and reviewed the preparedness for cyclone Yaas which is approaching Odisha and West Bengal coast.
From the Collector’s office, Mr.Jena held a meeting over video conference with Bahanaga BDO, Tahasildar, Block Education Officer, police personnel at Gopalpur, and Rural Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation (RWSS) officials.
The SRC directed officials to be on high alert for the cyclone which is very likely to hit Odisha coast on May 26 (Wednesday). People staying in thatched huts, houses on the shoreline, and makeshift dwellings should be evacuated to 18 cyclone shelters, 29 schools.
The district administration has targeted evacuating a total 8,540 persons from these areas of Bahanaga block. Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure that Covid infection does not spread among the evacuees. For this purpose, sufficient masks and sanitisers have been stocked in the cyclone shelters.
The schools and shelters are being regularly sanitised. Special arrangements have been done to supply dry food and cooked food in the cyclone shelters, the district administration apprised the SRC at the meeting.
As part of the preparedness, eight flood relief teams and four diving teams are prepositioned at Odisha and West Bengal to augment the existing resources. Four naval ships are on standby with Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) bricks, diving, and medical teams to render assistance in the most affected areas along the Odisha and West Bengal coast.
Naval aircraft are kept ready at Naval Air Stations, INS Dega at Visakhapatnam and INS Rajali near Chennai to undertake an aerial survey of the most affected areas, casualty evacuation, and airdrop of relief material as required.
The State government on Sunday directed for deployment of 18 NDRF teams in six coastal districts.
Seven NDRF teams will be deployed in Balasore, 4 in Bhadrak, 3 in Kendrapada, 2 in Jajpur and one each in Jagatsinghpur and Mayurbhanj districts by May 24 afternoon.
Apart from this, 4 NDRF teams will be kept on standby at SRC headquarters office for emergency operation, Special Relief Commissioner Mr.Jena added.
The NDRF has also airlifted teams from Patna to West Bengal on Saturday in the wake of the approaching cyclone.
Indian Navy stated that it is closely monitoring the movement of the Cyclonic Storm. “Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, and Naval Officers-in-Charge at West Bengal and Odisha Area have carried out preparatory activities to combat the effects of Cyclone ‘Yaas’ and is in constant liaison with the State Administrations for rendering assistance as required,” the Indian Navy informed.
Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar Umashankar Das said as the cyclonic storm is very likely to move in the north-north-west direction, four north coastal districts viz., Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapada will be severely affected.
Very severe cyclonic storm Yaas is expected to make a landfall between Paradip and Sagar Islands on May 26 (Wednesday) evening.
Cyclone Yaas is likely to cross north Odisha-West Bengal between Paradip and Sagar Island by evening of 26th May as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm.
High wave along Odisha coast is likely to rise up to 6 metres (roughly 20 feet) due to forecasted Cyclone Yaas over Bay of Bengal, said INCOIS-IMD joint bulletin.
“High waves in the range of 3.3–6.0 meters are forecasted during 17:30 hours of 23-05-2021 to 23:30 hours of 26-05-2021 along the coast of Odisha from Gopalpur to Chandipur. Surface current speeds vary between 50-125 cm/sec,” the bulletin said