The Odisha government has put seven coastal districts of the state on alert amid a low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea, which is likely to intensify into a depression and eventually into a cyclone, officials said.
The weather department predict that the system is expected to move in a west-northwest direction, gradually intensifying into a Depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by November 30. It is expected to gain further strength, evolving into a cyclonic storm ‘Michaung’ over the Southwest and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal within the next 48 hours.
Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahoo, in a letter to the collectors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts, said that a low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea is likely to intensify into a depression and later into a cyclonic storm, news agency PTI reported.
He also advised fishermen to not venture into the sea from the morning of December 1 and asked those who have gone to the sea to return by that date.