The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha met here on Wednesday for the second time to review the preparedness with the States and concerned Departments of Government of India to deal with the situation arising out of the cyclonic storm 'Fani.'
The extremely severe cyclonic storm with over about 430 km South-Southeast of Vishakhapatnam and about 680 km South-Southwest of Puri will continue to move northwest till May 1, said the Central government in a statement.
"It is likely to move Northwest wards during next 12 hours and thereafter recurve North-Northeast direction and is expected to cross Odisha coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, South of Puri around May 3 with maximum sustained wind speeds of 175-185 kmph gusting to 205 kmph."
Ganjam, Gajapati, Khurda, Puri and Jagatsinghpur districts of Odisha, East and West Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata districts of West Bengal and Srikakulam and Vijayanagram districts of Andhra Pradesh are likely to be affected as per present indications, said the government.
"Based on the decision of the first meeting of NCMC, the Centre has already released advance financial assistance of Rs 1,086 crore to Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal to assist them in undertaking preventive and relief measures," the release said.
Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed their ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air Force units in the three states have also been put on standby.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also deployed a total of 41 teams in Andhra Pradesh (8), Odisha (28) and West Bengal (5) for prepositioning. In addition, the NDRF is keeping 13 teams on standby in West Bengal and 10 in Andhra Pradesh.
Southern Command of the Indian Army has all geared up for cyclone 'Fani.'
"Naval aircraft are kept ready at the Naval Air Stations, INS Dega and INS Rajali to undertake an aerial survey of the most affected areas, casualty evacuation and airdrop of relief material, as required by the State administration," said a spokesperson of Southern Command of Indian Army.
The spokesperson said: "Ships at Visakhapatnam are standing-by with relief material for immediate deployment to most affected areas to undertake humanitarian aid distress relief operation. Diving and medical teams are kept ready augmenting rescue and relief efforts in Andhra, Odisha."
East Coast Railways has also issued advisory to cancel or regulate trains, which might get affected due to cyclone 'Fani.' The section between Bhadrak-Bhubaneswar-Puri-Visakhapatnam will be cleared so that there will be no train in the section during an extreme situation.
In Bhubaneswar, director of India Meteorological Department (IMD) HY Biswas said: "Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in all the coastal districts including south coastal districts of Puri, Khurda, Koraput, and Kandhamal districts on May 3.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has also reviewed the preparedness in view of cyclone 'Fani.' Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty said: "A preparatory meeting of all senior police officers was held at Bhubaneshwar to help the public and prevent the loot of food and other materials during the cyclone 'Fani.
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