Odisha has moved more than 1.51 lakh people to safer locations in Ganjam district as Cyclone Murasu threatens fresh heavy rain and strong winds in southern districts still recovering from flooding and landslides linked to Cyclone Arnab. The district administration is targeting the evacuation of nearly 2.94 lakh people from vulnerable areas.
The India Meteorological Department said Murasu was likely to move northwestwards and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, south of Ongole, as a severe cyclonic storm between 11.30pm on Monday and 4am on Tuesday. The system was forecast to bring winds of 100-110 kmph, with gusts reaching 120 kmph.
Although Odisha was expected to remain largely outside the cyclone’s projected track, the state government placed Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and Puri under heightened preparedness. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the government was fully prepared for the storm’s impact.
The IMD forecast heavy rain at isolated places in Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri. Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph, occasionally reaching 60 kmph, were expected in parts of Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh.
Ganjam has prepared 110 permanent and 1,029 temporary shelters with capacity for 3.41 lakh people. District Collector Keerthi Vasan V said residents living in unsafe buildings, landslide-prone locations and other vulnerable areas had been identified for evacuation. Medical teams, drinking water, generators and other essential supplies have been arranged at the shelters.
In Kandhamal, 2,394 people, including 450 children and 146 pregnant women, had been moved to 35 shelters. The administration identified 62 vulnerable habitations across 18 panchayats and deployed Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force, National Disaster Response Force and fire service teams.
Koraput had shifted 500 people and kept 506 shelters ready, with preparedness measures covering 120 vulnerable villages and habitations across 62 panchayats. Gajapati, where around 150 landslide-prone locations have been identified, prepared 512 alternative shelters and six permanent cyclone and flood shelters with combined capacity for around 35,000 people.
The precautionary measures follow five deaths in landslides in Ganjam and Kandhamal after Cyclone Arnab. Ten residents of Gadibapali in Ganjam’s Baibili panchayat remained missing, according to the report. A government statement said 177 personnel from six departments and three sniffer dogs had been deployed to search for them.
Anganwadi centres across Rayagada were scheduled to remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Schools in Ganjam and Malkangiri were to remain closed on Tuesday, while classes up to Class XII in Kandhamal were suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday. Authorities were continuing evacuation, shelter management and search operations as the cyclone approached the Andhra Pradesh coast.
