Hyderabad: As Cyclone Phailin headed towards the east Indian coastal states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, people from vulnerable areas in both the states were being evacuated.
Indian defence minister A K Antony asked the army to be ready to help the two states in dealing with the calamity, while Andhra Pradesh revenue minister N Raghuveera Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad that 64,000 people were being evacuated from low lying areas of three districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhpatanam.
“We have asked district collectors to complete the process of evacuation by this evening,” he said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall near Gopalapur between Paradip and Kalingapatanam in Odisha with a wind speed of 210km/h on Saturday night, the Indian Meteorological Department said. Srikakulam district, adjoining Odisha, was likely to be among the worst hit in coastal Andhra.
“The cyclone will be as severe as the Super Cyclone of 1996 which hit the Andhra coast,” said Raghuveera Reddy after a review meeting with officials.
The Departments of Disaster Management, police and the weather officer were working in close coordination. “We have also requested the army and the navy to be ready to help us,” he added.
The people being evacuated include 20,000 from Srikakulam district (adjacent to Odisha), 4,000 from Vijayanagaram and 40,000 from Visakhapatanam.
District level officials of the revenue department and other concerned departments were already on the field. “I am appealing to the people to fully cooperate in minimising losses. We cannot stop the cyclone but we can minimise the damage,” he said.
Relief preparations were expected to pick up pace with government employees likely to end their two month-long strike against plans to divide the state.
“Cyclones are not new for us. In the last 124 years, the state was hit by cyclones 74 times, thirty of them in October. There is no need for the people to fear. Everything will be taken care of. I appeal to them to follow the government’s instructions and act accordingly,” he said.
Andhra Pradesh, with a 1000km long coast, has 850 operational cyclone shelters and another 200 in dilapidated condition. “We have almost one shelter [every] one km,” the minister said.
The Indian Navy and Army were also on stand by. “We will also use the police communication network as a backup if the civilian communication network fails,” the minister said.
Teams of the National Disaster Rescue Force had also reached the area, he said.
Heavy rains have started lashing the coastal Andhra districts since last evening and conditions at sea had also become rough.
The Weather officer has warned that coastal Andhra will record heavy rainfall of more than 25cm to be recorded at some places.
As the 30,000 employees of the power sector have withdrawn their strike, which was in protest against plans to divide the state, power generation has resumed in Vijaywada and Kadapa thermal power stations and power supply has been restored.
