Ahead of Cyclone Yaas, PM Modi reviews all preparations, ask for timely evacuation of people

New Delhi, May 24: As the Cyclone Yaas is heading towards West Bengal and north Odisha coasts and is expected to hit the coasts this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the high-level meeting to reviews all preparations to deal with the situation arising out of Cyclone.

In view of the ONGC incident, he directed all concerned departments to ensure timely evacuation of those involved in off-shore activities. He further asked officials to ensure proper coordination and planning with state governments to ensure no disruptions in Covid treatment and vaccination in hospitals.

Apart from it, PM Modi also underlined the need to ensure that the time duration of outages of power supply and communication network are minimum and are restored swiftly. He also instructed all concerned departments to ensure timely evacuation of those involved in off-shore activities.

Modi further spoke about the need to involve various stakeholders i.e. coastal communities, industries by directly reaching out to them and sensitising them. Prime Minister also informed that the Cabinet Secretary has taken a meeting of National Crisis Management Committee on Saturday with Chief Secretaries of all the Coastal States and UTs and Central Ministries and Agencies concerned. According to the PMO statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reviewing the situation 24*7 and is in touch with the State Governments/ UTs and the Central Agencies concerned.

Also Read | Cyclone YAAS: Armed Forces airlifts 950 NDRF personnel and 26 helicopters on standby

Moreover, PMO has further informed that the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations. Air Force and Engineer task force units of Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment. Seven ships with Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Units are on standby along the western coast.

Also Read | Cyclone Yaas to intensify into 'very severe cyclonic storm', IMD issues warning

On Saturday, IMD informed that Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify into a “very severe cyclonic storm” and is expected to cross the Odisha and the West Bengal coasts on Wednesday evening with the wind speed ranging 155 to 165 kilometers per hour gusting to 185 kilometers per hour.IMD has also warned of a storm surge of about 2 to 4 meters in coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha.