Koraput/Malkangiri: Heavy rain and strong winds under the impact of Cyclonic Storm Gulab have caused landslides and uprooted trees in several south Odisha districts.
Cyclone ‘Gulab’ started making landfall on Sunday evening, triggering heavy rains along with strong winds over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south coastal Odisha.
Under its impact, a landslide has occurred at Ralegada village in Pottangi block of Koraput district. As a result, the National Highway 26 between Pottangi and Salur is closed.
Meanwhile, the district administration has asked people to take Araku route for Vizag bound travel or Laxmipur- Narayanapatna- Parvathipuram road for North-bound travel.
Many trees have been uprooted in Korukonda, Khairaput, and other blocks of Malkangiri district. Many of the trees have been cleared by ODRAF, NDRF, and Odisha Fire Services personnel.
While rainfall and windy weather continues to prevail in the area, no loss to life and property has been reported.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena informed that while no major wind action was reported from anywhere in Odisha, rainfall above 100mm have been recorded in one block each of Malkangiri and Koraput districts.
While the highest rainfall of 148 mm was recorded in Pottangi block of Koraput, 107 mm rainfall was recorded in Malkangiri. An average rainfall of 53mm was recorded in Malkangiri and 49mm in Koraput.
Jena further informed that a total of 46,075 people have been evacuated and housed at 1189 shelters. Out of the 1533 pregnant women shifted to health centres or hospitals, one has delivered a healthy child in Ganjam.
As per last reports, the remnant of the cyclonic storm lay centered as a deep depression over south Odisha and adjoining south Chhattisgarh about 90 km southeast of Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh) and 65 km east-northeast of Kalingapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) at 0830 hrs IST today.
It is likely to move nearly westwards and weaken into a Depression by today afternoon and into a well marked Low pressure area during subsequent 24 hours.
