Thursday, October 27 2005 14:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bhuvaneshwar: Orissa Government has sounded an alert in all its coastal districts as the depression over Bay of Bengal intensified today (Oct 27, 2005), official sources said.

Collectors of all ten coastal districts were alerted and asked to monitor the situation and be prepared for any eventuality even though no immediate danger was perceived to the state, they said.

The depression had intensified and lay centred 740 km south-south west of Gopalpur over the south-west and adjoining west-central bay, S C Sahu, Director of the Cyclone Warning Centre (CWC) told PTI.

The deep depression, which had moved slightly in the north-westerly direction, was likely to traverse in a north-north-westerly direction and cross the North Tamil Nadu and South Andhra Pradesh coast by tomorrow (Oct 28, 2005) morning, he said.

The landfall point is expected to be between Chennai and Ongole, Sahu said.