Cyclone Fani: Odisha cancels leaves of employees

Bhubaneswar, April 29 (IANS) With the cyclonic storm Fani moving towards Odisha coast, the state government on Monday cancelled the leaves of its employees in three coastal districts.

The leaves of government employees in Ganjam, Puri and Kendrapara have been cancelled as a precautionary measure ahead of the the cyclonic storm.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took stock of preparedness by the state administration to deal with cyclone Fani at the state secretariat here.

Fani, which lay centred about 840 km east-southeast of Chennai at 11.30 IST on April 29, is likely to move northwestwards till May 1 and then recurve north-northeastwards towards Odisha coast, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The cyclonic storm is likely to trigger rainfall in the state from May 2. There may be 40-50 km of wind per hour along with rainfall in coastal districts of Odisha from morning hours of May 2 which may increase further.

Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange said the administration will take steps to shift the people vulnerable to the cyclone to safer places.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi holding a review meeting directed the district collectors concerned to remain alert in view of the cyclonic storm.

Padhi directed to keep the cyclone and flood shelters in coastal areas ready with all necessary emergency equipment and materials.

The Health and Family Welfare and the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare departments have been asked to keep stocks of the essential medicines and food items in district headquarters.

The Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department were also asked to ensure supply of drinking water as per necessity in the marooned areas.

There are 879 multipurpose cyclone shelters in the coastal belt of the state. All the shelters are ready. The shelters can accommodate about one million persons during the cyclone and flood. All shelters have been retrofitted with lightening arresting systems, said sources.

A total number of 252 power boats in working condition have been placed with different Collectors. The fire stations have been equipped with required search and rescue equipment and First Responder Teams have been trained for rescue and relief operation.