Odisha government on May 17 appealed to the Central government to suspend Shramik special trains from May 18 for three days owing to cyclone Amphan, which continued its trajectory towards Odisha and West Bengal.

‘Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Ganjam may be affected due to the cyclonic storm. The Chief Secretary has requested Union Cabinet Secretary to consider suspending ‘shramik special’ trains from May 18 for 3 days in the coastal areas,’ The New Indian Express quoted PK Jena, Special Relief Commissioner, Odisha on the cyclonic storm as saying.

‘The Chief Minister has held a review meeting with all concerned officials and district administrations. He has advised pre-positioning of the NDRF, fire service teams, alternate drinking water supply, manpower with equipment for road clearance,’ he added.

The Chief Secretary made the request hours after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) raised an alert that the cyclonic storm Amphan is very likely to ‘intensify’ into a ‘severe cyclonic storm’ in the next 12 hours and into a very severe cyclonic storm by the morning of May 18.

The Odisha government has also deployed ten teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur & Mayurbhanj districts of the state.

Seven teams are deployed at third NDRF BN Mundali in Cuttack.

The cyclone is expected is to result in ‘heavy to very heavy’ rains in the coastal areas of the two states from May 19. The West Bengal government has stated that the entire state machinery is ‘ready to deal with the situation.

Also Read: ‘One Year Of Fani’: How Cyclone Affected Odisha’s Talamla Village