Raipur, Oct 28 Several districts in Chhattisgarh, including Raipur, witnessed rainfall and strong winds on Wednesday under the influence of cyclone Arnab, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast earlier in the day, prompting the closure of schools, officials said.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in northern Chhattisgarh on Thursday.
Schools remained closed in many districts including Sukma, Narayanpur, Bijapur, Dantewada, and Rajnandgaon, while authorities in several other districts announced precautionary holidays for Thursday.
The administrations of Raipur, Narayanpur, Mahasamund, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Kanker, Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi, Kabirdham, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Surajpur, Balodabazar-Bhatapara and Dhamtari districts ordered the closure of government and private schools on Thursday, officials said.
The Raipur district administration also declared a holiday for colleges and other educational institutions on Thursday, citing weather warnings and concerns over the safety of students amid the possibility of rainfall, strong winds and other adverse weather conditions.
The order issued by the Raipur Collector said the precautionary holiday is being declared under the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in view of the weather warnings issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
No harm was reported due to the weather conditions in Chhattisgarh, officials said.
The state government has directed district collectors to remain on alert in view of the possibility of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, ensuring round-the-clock availability of relief camps, uninterrupted medical services and heightened vigilance, with the objective of preventing casualties, they said.
The government also issued a weather-based agricultural advisory for farmers, warning that several parts of the state could receive rainfall ranging from light to extremely heavy between October 28 and November 1.
According to the advisory issued by the meteorology department of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University in Raipur, the cyclonic storm crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast between 2 am and 8 am on Wednesday.
The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in northern Chhattisgarh on Thursday, particularly in the districts of Bastar, Balrampur-Ramanujganj, Surajpur, Korea and Korba, it said.
Several other districts are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall, it said.
Light to moderate rainfall is also likely in parts of the state between October 30 and November 1, with thunderstorms and lightning possible at isolated places, the advisory added.
The agricultural meteorology department has advised farmers to harvest paddy, maize and oilseed crops that have reached maturity and store them in safe places. Farmers who have already harvested their crops have been advised to move the produce to secure locations and prevent water-logging in fields.
It has also advised farmers to defer the sowing of rabi crops such as wheat, gram and lentils until the weather improves.
Earlier, the state government on October 26 directed all district collectors to remain vigilant over the possible impact of Cyclone Arnab and take precautionary measures to deal with heavy rainfall.
(PTI News)
