Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the State’s preparation for the possible impact of cyclone Montha that has already affected normal life across 15 districts in the coastal and southern regions of the State. He said that over 2,000 cyclone shelters were set up to shelter the affected people and the government has set the “Zero Casualty” goal. The Chief Minister said 153 rescue teams (over 6,000 personnel) comprising personnel of NDRF, ODRAF and Fire Service are positioned at vulnerable places across the eight southern districts and responding to the situations. An official report said that as many as 1,871 pregnant women were shifted to various health centres since Monday, of whom 452 have given birth.

The administration has already announced the closure of schools and Anganwadi centres in nine districts till October 30, while East Coast Railway has announced cancellation, diversion and short termination of some trains operating in the Waltair region and connected routes. The leave of government employees has also been cancelled till October 30. The administration has also sealed all sea beaches to prevent tourists and local people from entering the shores, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) D K Singh said. A report from Puri said that a lifeguard was injured after he was allegedly assaulted by tourists at the beach on Tuesday when he prevented them from taking a bath in the sea in view of cyclone Montha. The tourist’s wife allegedly attacked the lifeguard with slippers for stopping them from entering the sea, police said.

As the sea conditions remain rough to very rough, the State government has advised fishermen not to venture into the Bay of Bengal, along and off the Odisha coast, till October 29.

A statement issued by the East Coast Railway said that 61 trains were cancelled, two diverted, and five short-terminated/short-originated five trains, while eight others were rescheduled. The weather agency also suggested hoisting of local cautionary signal (LC-III) No-III at Gopalpur Port and Distant Warning Signal No-II (DW-II) at Paradip, Dhamra, Puri, Chhatrapur and Chandbali ports of Odisha.