Disaster management teams deployed as cyclone heads for Odisha, Andhra coasts

NEW DELHI: With the "Hudhud" cyclone likely to hit the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on October 12, Cabinet secretary Ajit Seth on Thursday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) here to review preparedness of the central and state agencies to deal with it.

Even as Seth asked all central ministries/departments and chief secretaries of Odisha and AP to take all possible steps to meet any eventuality arising out of the impending cyclone, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has already stationed its teams in the vulnerable areas as a pro-active measure.

Apart from putting its five battalions situated at Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar on high alert, the NDRF has deployed six rescue and relief teams in Andhra Pradesh and nine teams in Odisha. While the teams in Odisha have been positioned at Gajpati (1), Ganjam (3), Khurda (2), Cuttack (1), Puri (1) and Balasore (1), in AP they are deployed in Srikakulam (2), Vijay Nagaram (1), Visakhapatnam (2) and East Godavari (1).

Four more teams from Patna, Kolkata and Chennai battalions are headed for Odisha and AP.

In all, around 27 teams are being deployed in the vulnerable areas as a proactive measure to mitigate the impact of the cyclonic storm. One DIG each has been stationed at Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar to supervise the efforts.

As many as 162 boats and 54 deep diving sets, along with other flood rescue equipment, are being sent to the areas likely to be hit by 'Hudhud'.

http://ift.tt/1uHXqi8 heads for Odisha

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