Naidu urges Modi to declare Hudhud a national disaster

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday asked all ministers to rush to Visakhapatnam and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare Cyclone Hudhud a national disaster. While taking stock of the situation during a review meeting at the cyclone monitoring centre at the Secretariat, Naidu called Modi and apprised him of the situation in coastal Andhra. "It is very severe. All arrangements have been made to take care of rescue and relief operations," Naidu told Modi over telephone.

As the Prime Minister assured his key ally of the Centre's assistance, Naidu thanked him for the support. While the actual damage caused by the cyclone is yet to be assessed, the chief minister's media advisor Parakala Prabhakar told the media that Naidu had written to Modi urging him to declare it as a national disaster. Union home minister Rajnath Singh called Naidu and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaiak and assured them of the Centre's support.

While updating the media about measures taken, Prabhakar said the chief minister has asked all ministers to reach Visakhapatnam by Monday. "For the next couple of days, ministers and officials will camp in Vizag and the government will work from there," he said. As officials warned him about the bad weather, Naidu took a special flight to Vijayawada and camped there for Sunday night. On Monday morning, he is expected to go to Rajahmundry by road from where again he will be taking a flight to Visakhapatnam, government sources said.

KCR offers help in relief ops

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is on a visit to Delhi, expressed his solidarity with the AP government and offered help in rescue and relief work. A release issued by the chief minister's office said KCR had asked chief secretary Rajiv Sharma to be in touch with his AP counterpart IYR Krishna Rao ensuring that helplines are kept open. Sharma even called Rao pledging support of the Telangana government in dealing with the crisis.

http://ift.tt/1kRDbtA Chandrababu Naidu,Cyclone Hudhud

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