Bhubaneswar, October 25: Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Saturday reviewed the preparedness for Cyclone Montha with the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), district collectors and senior officials here and said that both the State and district administrations are fully equipped to handle any situation arising from the impending cyclone.

He said that decision on closure of schools and cancellation of leaves of Government employees will be taken tomorrow once the situation becomes clearer.

“There is no need to panic. Both the State and district administrations are fully equipped to handle any situation arising from the impending cyclone. The system is likely to impact Odisha on October 28 and 29, particularly south and coastal Odisha,” said Pujari after chairing the review meeting.

Maintaining that the situation will become clearer by tomorrow evening, Pujari said, “The cyclone is changing direction at times, but even if it alters its course, the Government is fully prepared to tackle the situation in all the 30 districts of the State. Decision on closure of schools and cancellation of leaves of Government employees will be taken tomorrow."

“We have made our preparations based on past experiences and possible scenarios. Collectors will take review meetings this afternoon to take stock of the preparedness. All fishermen have been asked to return from the sea. District collectors have been instructed to take precautionary measures in areas prone to landslides," added the Minister.

Meanwhile, Special Relief Commissioner Deoranjan Kumar Singh said, "We have kept a close watch on the developments of the system. However, the Government is fully prepared to respond effectively regardless of the cyclone's intensity."

He advised people not to be fearful.

As per IMD’s latest update, the depression over southeast Bay of Bengal moved nearly westwards with a speed of 7 kmph during past three hours and lay centred over the same region, about 440 km west-southwest of Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 970 kmeast-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu), 990 km southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh) and 1040 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha).

It is likely to move nearly west-northwestwards, intensify into a deep depression by October 26 and into a cyclonic storm over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal by 27th morning. Thereafter, it is likely to move northwestwards, then north-northwestwards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of October 28.

It is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh coast during the evening/night of 28th October as a severe cyclonic storm.