The administration is prepared to face the fallout of cyclone Titli, which is moving in the northwest direction towards north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coast.
This system is likely to cross the coast between Gopalpur and Kalingapatnam on Thursday morning.
District emergency officer Prabodh Rout told The Telegraph on Wednesday that Cuttack has been put under “orange warning category with no cyclonic rain, but very heavy rainfall warning”.
“Hence, our preparedness is primarily to tackle possible inundation due to overflowing surface water channels and waterlogging conditions in the city,” Rout said. “As a first step fuel has been issued for de-watering pumps,” he said.
Waterlogging is a common feature in Cuttack due to its low topography. The municipal corporation has positioned de-watering pumps across at “flood spots” to prevent waterlogging during heavy rain.
Municipal commissioner Sarat Nayak told The Telegraph on Wednesday that 53 locations had been identified as “most vulnerable to waterlogging”. Accordingly, pumps have been positioned there and fuel provided to run them.
“Apart from the 12 permanent pumping stations, we are ready with 200 more de-watering pumps for use across the city,” Nayak said.
He said if the situation demanded, services of another 10 high-powered pumps would be provided to the fire services personnel.
Considering the probability of an outage, the Cuttack collector has asked authorities of SCB Medical College and Hospital and Sishu Bhawan to take steps to ensure uninterrupted power supply under any circumstances.
Collector Arvind Agarwal has also asked the chief district medical officer (CDMO) to ensure power backups at the district headquarters hospital, sub-divisional headquarters hospitals, all community health centres and primary health centres.
The collector has ordered traders of Malgodown and Chhatra Bazar to be prepared for round-the-clock supply of essential commodities and vegetables. Agarwal could not be contacted despite several attempts.
One team of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (Odraf) has been stationed at Niali for immediate movement to Puri or Jagatsinghpur, which fall in the red warning category, official sources said.
The emergency officer said flood and cyclone shelters in the district were ready to accommodate people in case of evacuation. Besides, 238 schools have also been requisitioned for use as shelter for people under similar circumstances.
He said relief materials were ready at all panchayat offices and 26 power boats and 137 country boats could be pressed into service in the district whenever required.