Ensure timely evacuation of people from high-risk areas: PM Modi after Cyclone Yaas meet

PTI, May 23, 2021, 2:17 PM IST

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for timely evacuation of those involved in off-shore activities as he chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of states and central government agencies to deal with the situation arising out of cyclone Yaas.

He asked officials to work in close coordination with states to ensure safe evacuation of people from high-risk areas, and stressed the need to ensure that time duration of outages of power supply and communication network are minimum and restored swiftly, a PMO statement said. He also asked officials to ensure proper coordination and planning with state governments to ensure that no disruption is caused to COVID-19 treatment and vaccination in hospitals.

Modi called for involving various stakeholders like coastal communities and industries and directly reaching out to them and sensitising them, the PMO said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the cyclone is expected to cross West Bengal and north Odisha coasts by May 26 evening with the wind speed ranging 155-165 kmph and gusting to 185 kmph.

It is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal and north Odisha. The IMD has also warned of storm surge in coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha. The IMD has been issuing regular bulletins with latest forecast to all states, the PMO noted.

The Ministry of Home Affairs is reviewing the situation and is in touch with the state governments, union territories and the central agencies concerned. It has already released the first instalment of SDRF in advance to all states, and the National Disaster Response Force has pre-positioned 46 teams which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipments in five states and UT.

In addition, 13 teams are being airlifted on Sunday for deployment and 10 teams have been kept on standby, the PMO noted. Home Minister Amit Shah, other ministers and senior officials attended the meeting.