Wary of cyclone, Odisha begins preparations

After being hit by summer cyclones for three consecutive years since 2019, the Odisha government began preparations for any such eventuality this season, even as the IMD forecast no possibility of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal in a fortnight.
The government decided to open a round-the-clock control room across the districts on 1 May for monitoring the situation, a senior official said. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary P K Jena on Wednesday, where the state government’s preparedness was reviewed.
Senior officers of several government departments, including the Director General of Police, the Director General of Fire Service, the Special Relief Commissioner, and a senior official of IMD Bhubaneswar, were among those who attended the meeting.
Discussions were held on information from Doppler radars installed at Paradeep and Gopalpur. These two radars will help track any summer cyclone that forms over the Bay of Bengal. While Odisha encountered cyclone Fani in 2019, cyclones Amphan and Yaas hit the state in 2020 and 2021, respectively. However, there was no such cyclone last year.
He said the state government was informed that there was no possibility of any low-pressure formation in the Bay of Bengal in the next 15 days and therefore no possibility of a summer cyclone now. “Cyclone mock drills will be held in each district on June 18 and 19, except in Puri, where a festival will be held on June 20,” an official said. The officials of the 317 fire stations in the state have been kept ready to face any eventuality.