Odisha steps up cyclone alert; Chilika boats halted as Oct 28 landfall forecast

Chilika boat services halted

In one of the first visible restrictions ahead of the expected landfall window, the Puri district administration ordered a shutdown of boat operations on Chilika Lake for four days, from October 26 to October 29. The order covers passenger, tourist and cargo boats, and also stops operations at the floating jetty during the same period.

Officials framed the move as a precaution to prevent accidents on the lake as weather conditions deteriorate. The administration warned that violations would invite action.

Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, draws tourists for its bird habitats and Irrawaddy dolphins. In the days leading into the peak of the cyclone watch, the lake’s boat services are also a key livelihood link for local operators and small traders.

High-level visits reshuffled

The cyclone threat also began reshaping official schedules.

President Droupadi Murmu’s proposed Odisha tour was postponed by eight days, shifting from October 28 and 29 to November 4 and 5. The revised programme has her arriving via Kalaikunda in West Bengal and then travelling into Odisha by helicopter to Dandbose Airport on November 4.

Her itinerary includes prayers at the Maa Kichakeswari Temple at Bahalda, visits to Lakshmimandap in Mahuldiha and her residence in Rairangpur, and stops at the Rairangpur Sub-Divisional Hospital, Kacheri Ground and the Holiday Home. On November 5, she is scheduled to visit the Rairangpur Sports Complex, Vikas Nagar, the Multi-Skill Development Centre at Gorumahisani Iron College and the Town Hall before departing from Dandbose.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, was scheduled to visit Odisha on Sunday for the inauguration of the Reserve Bank of India’s Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute in Bhubaneswar. On Puri beach, sand artist and Padma Shri awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik marked the visit with an eight-foot sand sculpture that paired the Konark Wheel motif with a depiction of the new facility.

In a post on X, Pattnaik wrote: “A warm welcome to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri @narendramodi Ji, on his visit to Odisha today for the inauguration of the @RBI Data Centre and Cybersecurity Training Institute.🙏”

A state on alert, and a separate tragedy

Odisha’s weather preparations come as the state enters a familiar seasonal test. The coastline on the Bay of Bengal has a long history of disruptive storms, and administrations have repeatedly stressed a “zero-casualty” approach when severe systems form offshore.

The latest system follows a similar pattern to one in late September that crossed the regional coast as a deep depression, bringing heavy rain without reaching full cyclone intensity. This time, however, forecasts point to a stronger storm as it approaches the coast.

Away from the cyclone watch, a deadly road accident in Odisha’s Sundaragada coal corridor underlined the risks on the state’s heavy-traffic routes. Two truck drivers were killed late on October 24 when their vehicles collided head-on near Amlabahal Chhak and caught fire.

Preliminary accounts said the impact triggered a blaze that rapidly engulfed both trucks. The drivers were trapped in their cabins and could not be pulled out before the fire spread. Police and firefighting teams reached the site after distress calls and brought the flames under control, while authorities began an investigation into what caused the collision.

Odisha, formerly known as Orissa, is an eastern Indian state bordered by the Bay of Bengal and neighbouring states including West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. Its capital, Bhubaneswar, is known for temple architecture including the Mukteshvara shrine and the 11th-century Lingaraj Temple complex near Bindusagar Lake, while Puri and Konark anchor the state’s best-known heritage circuit.

For the coming week, the immediate focus is on the cyclone track and the practical restrictions that follow it: suspensions of water transport, rescheduling of travel, and readiness measures in coastal and southern districts as the system intensifies toward October 28.