Bhubaneswar, October 26: As Cyclonic Storm Montha strengthens over the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for five districts in Odisha. The districts are Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, and Ganjam, with orange and yellow alerts extended to several other districts.

The Odisha government has placed all 30 districts on high alert following the intensification of a depression into a deep depression, which is gradually moving toward the east coast, officials said. This shift in weather conditions is expected to bring very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across the state on October 28 and 29.

According to the IMD's latest update, the deep depression is likely to strengthen into a cyclonic storm, bringing heavy rainfall to several districts in Odisha and West Bengal between October 28 and 31. The weather system, currently located near latitude 11.0°N and longitude 87.7°E as of 11:30 pm on Saturday (October 25), has been moving west-northwestward at a speed of 8 km/h over the past six hours.

As of now, the system lies approximately 550 km west of Port Blair, 850 km east-southeast of Chennai, 890 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, and about 890 km southeast of Kakinada. The IMD anticipates that the depression will intensify into a cyclonic storm by Sunday morning (October 27) over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.

Residents in the regions are advised to take necessary precautions and stay updated on weather advisories.