Cyclone Jawad Updates: Heavy rains lash coastal Odisha; schools shut in 19 districts
Heavy rains and high-speed winds lashed out at the coasts of Odisha on Saturday morning as Cyclone Jawad moved along the coast. According to IMD (India Meteorological Department), heavy rains are expected at Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal coasts today. It is expected to reach the Puri coast on Sunday afternoon. After Sunday it is likely to weaken and move towards the north-north eastwards in the next 12 hours along the Odisha coast forming a Deep Depression.
Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Friday looked after the preparations that are being processed to beat the cyclone. The secretary has directed all agencies towards this cyclone crisis o ensure that no life is lost and property damage is minimal. The NDRF has prepared 64 teams for deployment in the affected states.
According to ANI, schools will be closed in 19 districts of Odisha due to heavy rainfall. On the other hand, 54k people are evacuated from the districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Vishakapatnam. So far 11 NDRF, 5 SDRF, 10 Marine police teams and 6 Coast Guard are deployed in 3 districts of Andhra Pradesh for backup.
According to a PTI report, a classical dance festival and sand art event in the Puri district were cancelled on Friday as the cyclone started to form in the Bay of Bengal. The Konark Festival at Sun Temple and the International Sand Art Festival at Chandrabhaga Beach was going on since Wednesday and it was supposed to end tomorrow.
The festival was cancelled immediately, the Tourism Department said in a statement. The Konark Festival is celebrated every year since 1986 at an open-air auditorium before the Sun Temple that was built in the 13th century.
It is the first time that this festival was cancelled midway. Leading performers and dancers of different Indian classical forms took part in this 5-day event (Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri were some of them).
At 1730 IST of 3rd Dec the CYCLONIC STORM 'JAWAD' centered about 300 km south southeast of Vishakhapatnam and 480 km south southwest of Puri. To move north northwestwards till 4th Dec Morning and then recurve north northeastwards reaching near Puri coast around 5th december noon.
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) December 3, 2021
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