Odisha braces for Titli

Schools, colleges shut in all 30 districts, no trains to ply on Chennaihowrah line

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Wednesday ordered closure of educational institutions and anganwadi centres in all the 30 districts for the next two days as Cyclone Titli, that earlier in the day intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal, moved towards the Odisha coast, triggering rainfall in several parts of the eastern state. Odisha chief secretary A P Padhi said all schools and colleges in the state would be shut on October 11 and 12 as the cyclone was likely to make a landfall early on Thursday morning.

“The students union elections in colleges scheduled tomorrow have also been cancelled. Zero casualty is part of the state government’s disaster management policy," Padhi said.

The chief secretary, however, said there was nothing to panic as Titli was weaker than the two previous cyclones -- Phailin in 2013 and Hudhud in 2014—that hit the Odisha coast.

The ministry of earth sciences (MOES) on Wednesday said a red alert has been issued for districts of north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts for October 11. Fishermen in these regions have been advised to stay away from the sea till October 12.

HOURS TO LANDFALL

The weather office said the very severe cyclonic storm, now around 230 km away from Gopalpur in was likely to make a landfall between close to the port town early on Thursday morning with winds gusting up to 165 kilometres per hour.

"With a sustained windspeed of 140-140 km per hour Titli would hit the coast around 5.30 am on October 11 and then rage on for next 5-6 hours with a similar force. It would however gradually weaken and re-curve northeastwards and move towards Gangetic West Bengal across Odisha by Thursday afternoon," said HR Biswas, Director of Bhubaneswar Meterological Ofiice.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre of the US Navy said the cyclone has rapidly deepened and developed a 18 nautical mile (33.33 km) ragged eye as it maintained expansive rain bands that wrapped tighter into the Centre.

PEOPLE EVACUATED

Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said 17 of the 30 districts of Odisha have been put on red alert, the highest state of emergency preparedness.

These districts are Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Boudh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Khurda, Nayagarh, Kalahandi, Koraput and Rayagada.

The government also ordered evacuation of people in four coastal districts that are directly in the path of cyclone.

In Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, the evacuation from the low-lying areas have started as Met officials predicted tidal waves upto 1.5 metre pummelling the coast.

TRAINS STOPPED

The East Coast Railway zone meanwhile decided to stop movement of trains on the Chennaihowrah section from this afternoon onwards.