Cyclone Jawad: PM Modi directs officials to take necessary measures to ensure safe evacuation of people

New Delhi [India], December 2 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the preparedness of States and Central Ministries and concerned agencies to deal with the situation arising out of the likely formation of Cyclone Jawad, informed the Prime Minister's Office.

As per PMO, the Prime Minister directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as Power, Telecommunications, health, drinking water etc. and that they are restored immediately in the event of any disruption.

He further directed them to ensure adequate storage of essential medicines and supplies and to plan for unhindered movement. He also directed for 24x7 functioning of control rooms.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that the low-pressure region in the Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into Cyclone Jawad and is expected to reach the coast of north Andhra Pradesh - Odisha around the morning of Saturday, December 4, 2021, with the wind speed ranging upto 100 kmph. It is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. IMD has been issuing regular bulletins with the latest forecast to all the concerned States.

Cabinet Secretary has reviewed the situation and preparedness with Chief Secretaries of all the Coastal States and Central Ministries/ Agencies concerned.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is reviewing the situation 24x7 and is in touch with the State Governments/ UTs and the Central Agencies concerned. MHA has already released the first instalment of SDRF in advance to all States. NDRF has pre-positioned 29 teams that are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipment etc. in the states and has kept 33 teams on standby.

Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations. Air Force and Engineer task force units of the Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment. Surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out aerial surveillance along the coast. Disaster Relief teams and Medical Teams are on standby at locations along the eastern coast.

Ministry of Power has activated emergency response systems and is keeping in readiness transformers, Diesel Generator sets and other equipments for immediate restoration of electricity. Ministry of Communications is keeping all the telecom towers and exchanges under constant watch and is fully geared to restore the telecom network.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued an advisory to the States/ UTs, likely to be affected, for health sector preparedness and response to COVID in affected areas.

Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways has taken measures to secure all shipping vessels and has deployed emergency vessels. The states have also been asked to alert the industrial establishments such as Chemical and Petrochemical units near the coast.

NDRF is assisting the State agencies in their preparedness for evacuating people from vulnerable locations and is also continuously holding community awareness campaigns on how to deal with the cyclonic situation.

The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, DG NDRF and DG IMD. (ANI)