Cyclone Fani hit Odisha at around 8 am on Friday, 3 May, triggering heavy rainfall along with gusty high-velocity winds with a speed of 175 kilometre per hour.
Flights have been cancelled from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha, and around 140 trains in the state have also been cancelled. The Kolkata airport will be closed from 9:30 am on Friday to 6 pm on Saturday as the cyclone is expected to move towards West Bengal later in the day.
The state government has already evacuated 11 lakh people to safety regions in the evacuation process, the biggest one India has ever seen. Various emergency helplines are being operated to assist people across the 30 districts in Odisha. The government of the state has also activated an emergency helpline number +91674253417 for Cyclone Fani.
The Centre and The Railways Department have also set up emergency helplines:
Cyclone Fani: Emergency Helpline Numbers by Indian Railways
- Bhubaneswar (0674-2303060, 2301525, 2301625)
- Khurda Road (0674-2490010, 2492511, 2492611)
- Sambalpur (0663- 2532230, 2533037, 2532302)
- Visakhapatnam (0891- 2746255, 1072)
- Puri (06752-225922)
- Bhadrak (06784-230827)
Ministry of Home Affairs' Control Room has also set up an emergency number that is 1938.
Cyclone Fani: Control Room Numbers of Odisha Districts
- Angul- 6764230980
- Balasore - 6782262286
- Baragarh - 664623112
- Bhadrak - 6784251881
- Bolangir - 6652232452
- Boudh - 6841222023
- Cuttack - 6712507842
- Deogarh - 6641226843
- Dhenkanal - 6762226507
- Gajapati - 6815222943
- Ganjam - 6811263978
- Jagatsinghpur - 6724220368
- Jaipur - 6728222648
- Jharsuguda - 6645272902
- Kalahandi - 6670230455
- Kandhamal - 6842253650
- Kendrapara - 6727232803
- Keonjhar - 6766255437
- Khurda - 6755220002
- Koraput – 6852251381
- Malkangiri – 6861230442
- Mayurbhanj - 6792252759
- Nawarangapur - 6868222434
- Nayagrah - 6753252978
- Nuapada - 6678225357
- Puri 6752223237
- Rayagada - 6856224062
- Sambalpur - 6632412407
- Subarnapur - 6654220362
- Sundargarh – 6622272233
The Department of Telecommunication has issued orders to all the telecom operators to allow free SMS for cyclone-related messages and inter-operability of mobile networks by other operators in the state.
(With Inputs from Business Today)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)