Cyclone Arnab Odisha: Following heavy rainfall and flooding triggered by Cyclone Arnab, normal life has been severely affected in nine districts of Odisha, including Ganjam and Gajapati. More than 300 villages in Ganjam and over 700 villages in Gajapati have been affected by the cyclone, which originated in the Bay of Bengal.

The state government deployed 313 teams from various disaster management agencies on Thursday to carry out relief and rescue operations.

( ANI image )

So far, 59,028 people have been evacuated to safer locations, including 11,882 from Ganjam district. Several residents were displaced after floodwaters entered their homes.

Heavy rainfall has triggered a major landslide at Taptapani Ghat on the Gajapati-Ganjam border, bringing vehicular traffic to a complete halt. National Highway 326 has also suffered extensive damage near Ledbandh in Mohana, Gajapati district, where several sections have been washed away, completely disrupting traffic on the key route connecting Brahmapur with southern Odisha.

Preparations are underway to airlift 2,328 people from Gajapati and Ganjam districts.

In Gajapati, continuous rainfall since Wednesday has triggered a flood-like situation in the Mahendratanaya River basin.

Meanwhile, according to PTI, an 11-year-old boy died after a wall collapsed in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district on Wednesday night. With this, the death toll from cyclone-related incidents in Andhra Pradesh has risen to seven.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday assured assistance to states affected by Cyclone Arnab, saying that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Forces (SDRF) were carrying out rescue and relief operations.

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Odisha Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said that nine teams of the NDRF, 60 teams of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 244 teams of the Fire Services Department had been deployed for rescue operations.

According to Pujari, Ganjam district has the highest deployment, with 45 ODRAF teams and seven NDRF teams. In Gajapati, 12 ODRAF teams and one NDRF team are engaged in rescue operations.

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Other affected districts in Odisha include Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi, Nuapada and Kandhamal.

The water level of the Bahuda River, which flows along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border, rose above the danger mark. Meanwhile, 36 trains on the Howrah-Chennai railway route were cancelled, 30 were diverted and the timings of eight trains were changed.