Cyclone Gulab : IMD issues red alert regarding Cyclone Gulab, NDRF teams deployed

The Odisha government has already prepared rescue and relief personnel and machinery and has started shifting people to safer places in seven identified districts of the southern part of the state. For the next three days, there will be a very bad condition in the sea adjoining Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. In such a situation, fishermen have been asked not to go into the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

The ‘Gulaab’ cyclone is expected to pass between Gopalpur (Odisha) and Andhra Pradesh’s Gopalpur coasts on Sunday, prompting rescue and relief operations in north coastal Andhra districts. Three teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and one team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the state. On the other hand, due to the effect of ‘Gulaab’ cyclone, rain started in the south and coastal areas of Odisha on Sunday morning. IMD informed that this cyclone is likely to hit the coast between Gopalpur in Odisha and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh around midnight.

A government release on Saturday said that plans have been made to shift around 86,000 families from low-lying areas to relief camps in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. Two teams of NDRF have been deployed in Srikakulam where the cyclone may have more impact. Apart from this, a team has been deployed in Visakhapatnam. A team of SDRF has also been kept ready for emergency in Visakhapatnam. The State Disaster Management Authority has asked the fishermen of these districts not to venture into the sea till September 27.