BHUBANESWAR, INDIA (AFP) - India deployed emergency personnel Wednesday (May 1) and ordered the navy on standby as it braced for an extremely severe cyclonic storm barrelling towards the eastern coast.
Tropical Cyclone Fani, located in the Bay of Bengal and packing wind speeds up to 205 kilometres per hour, is expected to make landfall at Odisha state Friday.
Authorities have also ordered the evacuation of thousands of people from coastal districts likely to bear the brunt of the storm.
The neighbouring coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states have also been put on a high alert.
India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the sea conditions were "phenomenal" over the west-central Bay of Bengal area.
"Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas," NDMA warned on Twitter.
The office of the state's special relief commissioner said local authorities had been told to identify "all vulnerable people... and shift them to multi-purpose cyclone/flood shelters."
"Arrangements have already been made for free kitchen, safe drinking water, lighting, health and sanitation," it said in a statement.
Local media reports say there are over 850 shelters in the state that can accommodate around one million people.
H.R Biswas, director of the meteorological centre in state capital Bhubaneshwar, said at least 11 districts would be affected by severe rainfall.
"We have suggested people to stay indoors," he told reporters.
Coastal Puri town, some 62km from Bhubaneshwar, has also been put a high alert.
Puri is home to Shree Jagannath, one of Hinduism's holiest temples, which receives millions of pilgrims each year.
India's election commission has eased its restrictions in Odisha's coastal districts to allow the state authorities to carry out swift relief and rehabilitation work.
The rules, which apply during elections, suspend certain powers of the incumbent government to announce new schemes or take fresh administrative decisions.
Odisha, which has a population of around 46 million, has already voted in India's ongoing election, which started on April 11.
The seventh and final phase of voting will be held on May 19, with counting and results due May 23.
Odisha had to evacuate some 300,000 people last October when its coastal districts were battered by cyclone Titli, with winds up to 150 kms (95 miles) per hour and heavy rains.
At least two people were killed in the cyclone.
Storms regularly hit eastern and southeastern India between April and December. In 2017, Cyclone Ockhi left nearly 250 people dead in Tamil Nadu and Kerala states.
Odisha's worst-ever cyclone, in 1999, killed over 8,000 people.
