By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneshwar, May 2, 2019: Odisha government has began evacuating about eight lakh people from low-lying areas of 14 districts to cyclone shelters, safer schools and college buildings as severe cyclone storm Fani approaches the coast on Thursday.

“We are maximising efforts at all levels for evacuation for the time being,” Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner Bishnupada Sethi told reporters here.

Boats, buses and trains are being used to evacuate number of people along the coast on Thursday ahead of an approaching cyclone named Fani that is forecast to make landfall within 24 hours, officials said.

Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani was centred in the west of the Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Office statement said. The south coast of Odisha was also expected to get heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday, it added.

The state-run weather office also forecast wind speeds gusting up to 200 kilometer per hour by Friday. Cyclone tracker Tropical Storm Risk rated Fani a mid-range category 3 storm.

Odisha government ordered closure of all educational institutions from Thursday. It also advised tourists to leave coastal towns in state.

Sea conditions were also likely to be very rough off the coast of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry, the weather office said.

India’s cyclone season generally lasts from April to December, with severe storms often leading to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, widespread deaths and damage to crops and property in both India and Bangladesh.

A super-cyclone battered the coast of Odisha for 30 hours, killing 10,000 people, two decades ago. A mass evacuation of nearly a million people in 2013 likely saved thousands of lives.