BHUBANESWAR: Odisha’s Malkangiri district has stepped up disaster preparedness as a depression over the Bay of Bengal moves towards the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coast, with authorities putting rescue teams on standby, opening cyclone shelters and deploying heavy machinery in vulnerable areas.According to news agency ANI, Malkangiri administration has intensified preparations ahead of the system’s expected landfall, with the district targeting “zero casualties”. Collector Prathamesh Arvind Rajeshirke said heavy rainfall was expected to intensify from Wednesday evening and continue through Thursday morning.‘Calm before the storm’Several parts of the district have already received significant rainfall. Khairput and Mathili blocks recorded more than 60mm and 80mm of rain respectively, while the district’s cumulative rainfall remained below 350mm, the collector told ANI.The district had experienced a temporary lull in rain since 6am on Wednesday, but Rajeshirke described it as potentially the “calm before the storm”, with heavier showers expected later in the day.Authorities are keeping a close watch on low-lying areas and water bodies, particularly after four bridges were submerged during heavy rain around two weeks ago.Barricades have now been placed around three to four vulnerable bridges to prevent people and vehicles from entering potentially dangerous stretches.
Odisha has stepped up cyclone preparedness with rescue teams and 220 JCBs. (IANS)
220 JCBs readyAs per the ANI report, the administration has deployed around 220 JCB excavators in valley and ghat areas to tackle landslides and ensure roads can be cleared quickly if debris blocks key routes.Two teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, or ODRAF, have also been moved from Koraput. One team has been positioned in Mathili and Govindpalli, while the other has been stationed in Kalimela.Cyclone shelters have been made operational in case evacuation becomes necessary. Officials have also arranged dry rations and cooked food for people who may need to be moved to safer locations.Schools and Anganwadi centres in the district have been given holidays, while leave granted to government officials has been cancelled.The state administration has also been holding preparedness meetings, with senior officials reviewing response plans and directing departments to coordinate rescue and relief operations.What IMD saysThe weather system over the Bay of Bengal is currently a depression and not an officially named cyclone.The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the system could strengthen into a deep depression as it moves west-northwestwards. It is expected to cross the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coast between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur during the night of September 23 and the early hours of September 24.Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been forecast across parts of southern and coastal Odisha, with isolated extremely heavy rain also possible.The IMD has issued a red alert for several southern Odisha districts during September 23-25. Koraput, Gajapati and Ganjam are expected to see heavy to very heavy rainfall on September 23 and 24, while Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri are under red alert for September 24 and 25.Squally winds, with gusts of up to 75 kmph, are also expected along and off the south Odisha-north Andhra Pradesh coast through September 24.Why ‘Cyclone Arnab’ is being discussedThe weather system has also sparked curiosity around the name “Cyclone Arnab”, but that does not mean the current depression has officially been named Arnab.Under the North Indian Ocean cyclone-naming system, tropical cyclones are assigned names from a predetermined regional list maintained through the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones. Arnab, contributed by Bangladesh, is one of the names on that list.However, a weather system is given a cyclone name only after it reaches the prescribed intensity for a tropical cyclone. The present system has not reached that stage, with the IMD currently forecasting intensification into a deep depression.Therefore, “Arnab” is best understood as the next relevant name in the regional roster, rather than the official name of the system currently approaching Odisha.Odisha districts brace for heavy rainThe approaching system has already prompted precautionary measures across Odisha. Several districts have shut schools and Anganwadi centres as heavy rain lashed parts of the state.Schools in Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Gajapati were closed, while Malkangiri ordered schools to remain shut until September 24.The state government has placed collectors of 11 districts on high alert and kept cyclone and flood shelters ready amid the possibility of waterlogging, urban flooding, landslides and mudslides.Authorities have also restricted movement on vulnerable stretches, including Kalinga Ghat, while ferry services between Satapada and Jahnikuda in Chilika Lake have been suspended until September 25.For now, the focus remains on the deep depression, its expected movement towards the Odisha-Andhra coast and the heavy rain threat. Whether the system eventually reaches cyclone intensity, and whether the name Arnab becomes applicable, will depend on its subsequent development as monitored by the IMD.(With agency inputs)