The Odisha government on Tuesday put seven coastal districts of the state on alert amid a low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea, which is likely to intensify into a depression and eventually into a cyclone by December 2, officials said.

In a letter to the collectors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts, Special Relief Commissioner Satyabrata Sahoo said that a low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea is likely to intensify into a depression and later into a cyclonic storm.

Therefore, fishermen should be discouraged from venturing into the sea from the morning of December 1 and those who have gone to the sea should return by that date, said the letter, which was also sent to the Fisheries and Animal Resources Department. Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre’s Director HR Biswas said the exact path of the system will be known once the low-pressure area intensifies into a depression.

He said light to moderate rains and thundershowers are likely in some areas of Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri and Jagatsinghpur on December 3.

In the letter, Sahoo said that under the influence of the anticipated system, wind speed may reach up to 40-50 kmph over the central Bay of Bengal from December 1, and it may increase to 50-60 kmph on December 2. As the sea conditions are likely to be very rough, fishermen are advised not to venture out from December 1, he said.

"The Fisheries and Animal Resources Department will ensure communication of warning/ alert messages to fishermen, and boats plying in the sea and details of boats and fishermen returned regularly," he said.