Odisha alerts fishermen over rough seas

The met office in Odisha has issued an alert, warning fishermen against venturing into the sea as gusty winds and rough tides would prevail off the coast due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, an official said Thursday.

The depression, which formed two days ago over north Bay of Bengal and moved north-northwestwards, lay centred close to the West Bengal coast, a senior official of the Bhubaneswar meteorological centre told IANS.

The system would weaken gradually into a low-pressure area during the next two days, the official said.

Strong and gusty surface wind speeds, reaching 40-50 km per hour (kmph) is likely to prevail along and off the state coast, he said.

Paradip and Gopalpur ports have been asked to hoist storm warning signal number one and fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea off north Odisha, he added.