The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), the country's top body to deal with an emergency situation, Monday took stock of the situation arising out of cyclone Fani and assured the state governments concerned of all assistance from the central government to face the storm
Bhubaneswar: As cyclone Fani approaches landfall, the Indian Navy is preparing itself to provide relief and assistance in the case of an emergency.
Following the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declaring cyclone Fani as a "severe cyclone" on April 29, the Eastern Naval CD assumed high degree of readiness to render necessary humanitarian assistance.
According to reports, several ships have been embarked with additional divers, doctors, inflatable rubber boats and relief materials.
Indian Navy: As intensifies into a severe cyclonic storm, Eastern Naval CD assumed high degree of readiness to render necessary humanitarian assistance. These ships are embarked with additional divers,doctors,inflatable rubber boats&relief materials in quantities sufficient pic.twitter.com/GCoWSuWiCG
— ANI (@ANI)The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), the country's top body to deal with an emergency situation, Monday took stock of the situation arising out of cyclone 'Fani' and assured the state governments concerned of all assistance from the central government to face the storm.
The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and the fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea as cyclone 'Fani' is expected to intensify into a 'very severe storm' by Tuesday, the Home Ministry said.
Also read: Cyclone Fani to turn into ‘very severe’
The wind speed of a cyclonic storm is 80-90 kilometres per hour with wind gusting up to 100 kmph. In case of an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm', the wind speed goes up to 170-180 kmph and could gain the speed of 195 kmph.
Light to moderate rainfall at a few places is very likely over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha on Thursday.
The precipitation is likely to increase the intensity with 'heavy to very heavy rainfall' at isolated places over coastal Odisha and adjoining districts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh from Thursday.
Light to moderate rainfall is expected at many places. Downpour at isolated places is also very likely to start over coastal districts of West Bengal from Friday, the IMD said.
The NCMC met here under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha and took stock of the situation. Chief secretaries, principal secretaries of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal attended the meeting through video conference.
Senior officers from the central ministries and agencies concerned also attended the meeting.
The NDRF and the Indian Coast Guard are coordinating with the state governments. The home ministry has assured the state governments to release in advance the first instalment of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), as per their request, a Home Ministry statement said.
Further, the state government highlighted that there is a seasonal ban on fishing in sea up to June 14 due to breeding season.
The state governments were advised to effectively enforce this ban
According to the IMD, the cyclone's landfall over Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. However, the possibility of landfall in Odisha is under continuous watch.
Regular warnings have been issued since April 25 to fishermen not to venture into the sea and asking those at sea to return to the coast.
The IMD has been issuing three hourly bulletins with the latest forecast to all the states concerned. The Home Ministry is also in continuous touch with the state governments and the central agencies concerned, the statement said.
The NCMC meeting followed directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is closely monitoring the situation. The NCMC will meet again Tuesday to take stock of the situation.
Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.