Berhampur: Road connectivity was disrupted at several locations in Ganjam and Gajapati districts on Tuesday after roadside trees were uprooted by strong winds and heavy rain triggered by the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal. Authorities, however, restored traffic movement within hours by clearing the trees.Trees fell at Chudalanji on the Samantiapalli-Ichhapuram road, on the Pitatali-Sorala stretch and near Dumbula in Ganjam district’s Digapahandi block. A tree also collapsed on NH-326 near Mohana in Gajapati district.Fire service personnel rushed to the affected locations and removed the trees, restoring road communication. Traffic between Samantiapalli and Ichhapuram in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh resumed after emergency teams cleared the blockade. “Our teams reached the sites immediately after the trees fell on the road and restored traffic movement,” said Thakur Prasad Dalai, fire officer. BDO (Patrapur) Laxman Soren said connectivity on all affected roads has been restored.With the weather system expected to bring more heavy rainfall, the district administrations of Ganjam and Gajapati districts have stepped up preparedness. Officials said people living in kutcha houses and vulnerable areas are likely to be shifted to safer locations if the situation worsens.As a precautionary measure, schools and anganwadi centres in both districts have been closed from Tuesday to Thursday. Officials have also intensified awareness campaigns in vulnerable villages, urging people to move to safer places if required.Collector (Ganjam) Keerthi Vasan V said all 110 cyclone shelters in the district have been kept ready. Schools and community centres will be used as temporary shelters if evacuation becomes necessary. “We have activated control rooms in all blocks, tehsils and urban local bodies. Their contact numbers have been circulated, and people have been asked to report any emergency immediately,” the collector said.In Gajapati district, the administration has focused on landslide-prone and remote areas. Asha and anganwadi workers have been using public address systems to alert residents and advise them to remain prepared for evacuation. Pregnant women in vulnerable locations have also been shifted to nearby healthcare facilities as a precautionary measure.Officials said 139 landslide-prone locations have been identified in the district. “We are persuading residents in vulnerable areas to move to nearby schools and other safe shelters as rainfall activity intensifies,” said tehsildar, R Udayagiri, Goura Chandra Patnaik.