Citing IMD inputs, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the cyclone was more likely to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast. (Representative Image)

Schools, colleges and Anganwadi centres in five southern Odisha districts bordering Andhra Pradesh will remain closed on October 28 and 29 as a brewing cyclone over the Bay of Bengal prompts the state to step up preparedness. The administration is on high alert, with heavy to very heavy rainfall forecast in several districts.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) , a low-pressure area over the east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a depression on Saturday and a deep depression over the next 24 hours. It is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Monday morning and move west-northwest towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, with landfall expected by Wednesday morning.…