STORY | Odisha evacuates over 30,000 people as cyclone Arnab triggers alert in southern districts The Odisha government has evacuated over 30,000 people to safety, with the entire southern region of the state remaining on high alert on Wednesday after the landfall process of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab was completed along the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast, a minister said. Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the state expects the cyclone to affect all southern districts, with Malkangiri likely to be the worst hit. "The cyclone is presently within Andhra Pradesh, and it will later in the afternoon touch Odisha," Pujari said, adding that personnel and equipment had been mobilised at vulnerable locations and evacuation was continuing. The government’s focus is on Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts, where people from low-lying and landslide-prone areas are being shifted to shelters, he said. Schools and anganwadi in 16 of the state's 30 districts remained closed for the day. As many as 2,037 cyclone shelters have been kept ready, with arrangements for food, drinking water and other essential facilities. The administrations in Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nuapada districts are also on alert, the minister said. The government has received reports of trees being uprooted in some southern districts, but there has been no report of major damage or casualties so far, Pujari said. READ: