Bhubaneswar, October 28: As Cyclone Montha's influence is being felt in Odisha, particularly in south Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday took stock of State’s preparedness and asked senior officials and district Collectors to take all measures to mitigate the impact of the cyclonic storm and achieve the goal of ‘zero casualty’.
Chairing a high-level meeting at the Lok Seva Bhawan to review the preparedness for the prevailing weather system, Majhi directed officials to be on high alert and evacuate people from vulnerable areas.
“As many as 2,048 cyclone shelters have been kept ready in eight districts – Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Koraput, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Kandhamal in south Odisha. Rain has already started in these districts. So far, as many as 11,396 people have been relocated. Total 30,594 people will be evacuated,” said Chief Minister Majhi told media persons after the meeting.
“Preparations to tackle the situation are being done for last three days. Zero Casualty is our mission,” said the Chief Minister.
Maintaining that a total of 1,871 pregnant women already shifted to hospitals in these districts, the Chief Minister said that 822 more pregnant women will be shifted to hospitals as precautionary measures.
The Cyclonic Storm Montha is likely to cross Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam around Kakinada during evening/night of today as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Sureh Pujari, Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Development Commissioner Anu Garg, SRC Deoranjan Kumar Singh among senior officials attended the meeting at the Lokseva Bhavan. Collectors of affected districts joined the meeting via video conferencing.
