New Delhi, May 2 (UNI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for cyclone Fani where he was briefed on the likely path of the cyclone, and the ongoing precautionary and preparatory measures being undertaken.
The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Additional Principal Secretary to the PM, the Home Secretary, and other senior officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), National Disaster Response Force, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and Prime Minister's Office.
The Prime Minister was briefed on the provision of adequate resources; deployment of teams from NDRF and the Armed Forces; arrangements to provide drinking water; and standby systems to restore power and telecom services.
After reviewing the emerging situation, the Prime Minister instructed senior officers of the Centre to maintain close coordination with officers of the affected States, to ensure preventive measures, and also to take effective steps for relief and rescue operations, as required.
The IMD bulletin said that the extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' over West-central Bay of Bengal Bengal moved north-eastwards with a speed of about 7 kmph in last six hours and lay centred at 0230 hrs, on Thursday about 510 km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha), 260 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 700 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal).
It is very likely to move northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, around Puri during Friday afternoon with maximum sustained wind speed of 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph. The cyclone is being tracked by Doppler Weather Radars Chennai, Vishakhapatnam and Machilipatnam.
The bulletin said that light to moderate rainfall at most places with isolated heavy to very heavy falls over Visakhapatnam and Vizainagaram Districts and isolated heavy to extremely heavy falls over Srikakulam districts on Thursday and with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places on Friday.
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