Bhubaneswar, Oct. 24: The state government today geared up to face the cyclone Kyant that is likely to hit the Odisha coast.

"We are in touch with the meteorology department authorities on the cyclone updates. So far, it's not certain whether the cyclone will hit the Odisha coast and what will be its intensity," said special relief commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra.

"However, we are not taking any risk as cyclones have occurred in October in the past," said Mohapatra, adding that all the collectors of the 11 coastal districts had been asked to remain alert.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has called an emergency meeting tomorrow to take stock of the cyclone preparedness.

Odisha had witnessed a devastating supper cyclone on October 29-30 in 1999 that had claimed more than 1,000 human lives and ripped apart the entire coastal belt. It was preceded by a cyclone early in the same month of the year in Ganjam district.

Recently, the state experienced cyclone Phailin on October 12, 2013. Again, the southern districts witnessed cyclone Hudhud in October last year.

Director of the regional meteorology centre here Sarat Chandra Sahu said the deep depression over the east central Bay of Bengal moved northwards and lay centred about 520km north north-east of Port Blair and 310km of west-south west of Yangon in the evening. "The system is most likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during next 24 hours. It will move northwards for some time and then recurve initially north-northwestwards and northwest ward. It is very likely to reach the northwest Bay of Bengal on October 27 morning," he said.

Weathermen warned that squally wind with speed up to 65km per hour was likely to commence along and off the Odisha and Bengal coasts from Thursday.

"The system should be closely watched and monitored," said the alert message issued by the special relief commissioner to the district collectors, asking them to remain alter keeping in view the possible adverse effects of the system.

"The district control rooms should be activated and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force teams should be requisitioned immediately if the situation so warrants. The fire service units should also be kept in readiness," said the directive, advising farmers to shift their harvested paddy to a safe place to avoid any loss or damage due to either the cyclone or rain.

Health secretary Arti Ahuja sent a set of a 13-point directives to all the chief district medical officers, asking them to remain prepared to meet the public health situation. "All medical and paramedical staff members need to be present at their headquarters and leave should not be allowed during the period," she directed.

Besides, Ahuja has also directed the chief district medical officers to open 24X7 control rooms in their respective districts and prepare a contingency plan to deploy staff members from the non-affected areas. Besides, the officers have been asked to ensure availability of emergency drugs and vehicles, including ambulance. They would also ensure health education on use of safe drinking water, ORS, mosquito nets and so on.