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Cyclone Fani: Odisha seeks 20 more units of NDRF teams for relief and rescue operations

Sujit Kumar Bisoy

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The SRC has mentioned that the cyclonic storm is likely to touch ground near Puri on Friday forenoon with a wind speed of 170-180 kmph, gusting up to 200 kmph.

  • At least 14 coastal and adjoining districts are likely to be affected by the storm.

BHUBANESWAR: As Odisha braces for extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani that is expected to make landfall on Friday morning, the state government has sought 20 more units of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to engage in relief and rescue operations.

Odisha special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi has written a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) in this regard to Ravi Joseph Lokku, IG NDRF.

The SRC has mentioned that the cyclonic storm is likely to touch ground near Puri on Friday forenoon with a wind speed of 170-180 kmph, gusting up to 200 kmph.

“Vast areas of coastal and adjoining districts are likely to be severely affected by the storm,” the SRC pointed out in the letter.

At least 14 coastal and adjoining districts are likely to be affected by the storm.

At least 25 units of NDRF have already been deployed in various districts, three more units are kept on standby. While the Munduli unit of NDRF in Cuttack district has 18 units, six teams have been brought from Patna and four teams from Varanasi.

“We are running the community awareness programme at a large scale. Wherever the district administration is seeking our help for evacuation, we are also going for that,” said Vijay Sinha, Operation Commandant, NDRF.

Three each teams have been deployed in Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapada districts while two each teams have been deployed in Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Jajpur and Khurda districts. Similarly, one each team has been deployed in Nayagarh, Cuttack, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Dhenkanal and Keonjhar.

Besides, 20 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) units and 525 fire service teams have also been deployed in various districts.

The additional NDRF units, which we have sought, will be deployed in districts based on the impact after landfall of the cyclone.

Meanwhile, the state government has evacuated over 12 lakh people to over 4000 cyclone shelters in 19 districts. The evacuees are being provided with cooked food at the cyclone shelters. Also, around 25,000 tourists were evacuated and sent back to their homes from Puri, Ganjam, Cuttack and Balasore.