As Cyclone Amphan is approaching, the Odisha government has started the process to broadcast an SMS based alert system and play tower siren to evacuate people in the districts, which are expected to suffer the most due to the cyclone, said State Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), Pradeep Jena, on Tuesday.
"The cyclone has already demonstrated its earliest signature in Bhubaneswar. We were informed that it is raining in Paradep and in some other areas. The evacuation process has started. We are also starting to broadcast an SMS alert system to all these districts. We will also start our location-based alert system in the afternoon. We will run siren and give messages," Jena told media persons here.
"The cyclone will have some wind action today all along with the coastal districts. Cyclonic storm Amphan lays over 470 km down south of Paradeep. It is likely to make landfall in between Digha, West Bengal and Hatiya Islands, Bangladesh on May 20 between afternoon and evening," he added.
At the landfall time, the wind speed expected will be about 150 to 160 km. In Odisha and north- Odisha coastal districts, the concerned administration is expecting a wind velocity of 100 to 200 km per hour.
In view of the cyclone, 31 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) including one in Jagatsinghpur, 15 National Disaster Rapid Force (NDRF) and 217 Odisha Fire Service teams have been deployed in the districts of Odisha.
Moreover, adequate arrangements have been made for generators and water tankers for both rural and urban areas.
NDRF and ODRAF teams have started to evacuate people from North coastal districts of Odisha, the Relief Commissioner said.
Earlier today, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a warning regarding Cyclone Amphan and said that it is likely to move towards West Bengal as an extremely severe cyclonic storm tomorrow.The super cyclone Amphan is being continuously tracked by the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, IMD said.It has also warned fishermen not to venture into the sea till May 21.
( With inputs from ANI )