Cyclone Fani: Andhra CM Naidu asks officials to gear up for relief measures

Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday conducted a review meeting with the officials in view of ‘Fani’ Cyclone, at the secretariat here.

Addressing the officials, the Chief Minister asked officials to take all precautionary steps to prevent both human and property loss during the period of cyclone landfall.

Naidu said, “As the elections concluded, there was no meaning in keeping silent during the crisis hours in the name of election code of conduct.”

“If necessary I would visit the cyclone affected regions in the state. I have written a letter to Election commission seeking exemption from election code of conduct to monitor the situation during cyclones,” Naidu added.
“There should be no gap between the election commission and the state governments,” said Naidu and directed the officials to make available milk packets in cyclone-prone areas.”

Naidu said, “Officials should be alert and ready with the necessary equipment to restore normalcy in cyclone-affected regions. There is no need to issue fresh GOs for taking up relief measures during the cyclone. The GOs issued during Titli cyclone is enough to carry out relief operations.”

“People should not be inconvenienced at any cost. The state government acted effectively during Titli cyclone using satellite services. The power supply was restored in record time by erecting nearly 40000 electric poles,” Naidu added.

He advised the officials to arrange meals in schools in cyclone prone areas. Also, advised procuring saw machines to clear the roads in case of falling of trees. He said officials should gear up to meet the challenge and restore normalcy.

Meanwhile, the Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu in Panaji said, “All airlines are requested to offer all assistance for rescue & relief operations in view of ‘Fani’ Cyclonic. All relief material should be airlifted to be delivered to officially designated agencies and the control room is set up.”

The Indian Railways has cancelled several trains–Rajdhani Express (Bhubaneswar-New Delhi), Neelanchal Express (Puri-New Delhi), Utkal Express (Puri-Haridwar), Purushottam Express (Puri-New Delhi) which will be commencing on May 3. The trains–Rajdhani Express (Bhubaneswar-New Delhi) and Nandan Kanan Express (Puri-New Delhi) to commence of May 4 has also been cancelled.

In Bhubaneswar, No flights will take off from midnight today for the next 24 hrs in the view of ‘Fani’ Cyclone.
Suresh Chandra Hota, Bhubaneswar International Airport Director said, “We had discussed the cyclonic situation with all our stakeholders and have taken some Precautionary Measures. Also, we have established a Control room to monitor the situation.”

“Till now we got information that all the IndiGo and GoAir flights cancelled for May 3 in the view of ‘Fani’ Cyclone,” Hota added.

Also, Air Asia and Vistara have decided to cancel all the flights due to bad weather condition.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]