Brahmapur: As many as 6,170 people have been evacuated to safer places in Odisha’s Ganjam district amid heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Arnab, while the district administration is closely monitoring dams and rivers and has deployed disaster response teams to tackle any emergency, Collector Keerthi Vasan V said on Wednesday.
The administration has activated round-the-clock control rooms and is coordinating with the Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) office to monitor the evolving situation, the collector said.
All 1,636 registered fishing boats in the district, including 1,354 motorised and 282 non-motorised boats, have returned to shore following the ban on fishing activities, he said.
The administration is also keeping a close watch on the Baghua reservoir, where the inflow of water was reported at around 500 cusecs, while the discharge stood at 200 cusecs. The reservoir was at 65.5 per cent of its storage capacity, while Bhanjanagar and Sorada dams were at 81 per cent and 86 per cent of their respective live storage capacities, the collector said.
Additional gates would be opened if required, he added.
The district administration has deployed Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams in the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation area, Patrapur and Bhanjanagar, while two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been stationed in Brahmapur and Asika.
Following reports of tree damage in Patrapur and Chikiti, an additional team has been kept on standby in Chhatrapur, while another ODRAF team has been deployed in Patrapur. A total of 24 fire service teams are also engaged in response operations across the district, he said.
As part of precautionary measures, the administration identified 1,262 pregnant women whose expected delivery dates fall within the next 15 days. Of them, 426 high-risk pregnant women have been shifted to safer locations, while 200 women have delivered their babies safely so far, the collector said.
The administration has also deployed 28 medical response teams and 23 veterinary rapid response teams in different parts of the district.
No major waterlogging has been reported so far, and teams from the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation are responding to complaints and taking corrective measures wherever required, he said.
Emphasising the need for continued vigilance, the collector said the administration was closely monitoring the situation and would take additional precautionary measures depending on rainfall and water levels over the next 24 hours.
