Cyclone Asani: AP CM calls for immediate relief and rehabilitation measures

Amaravati: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday said there is heavy rain forecast in some areas and directed the officials to take immediate relief and rehabilitation measures. He said relief camps should be properly maintained and directed the officials to visit them.

On Wednesday, the CM held a video conference with District Collectors and SPs of affected areas in the wake of the Asani Cyclone and directed the officials to be more vigilant and discuss the precautionary measures to be taken.

During the meeting held at the camp office here, the Chief Minister directed the Collectors of Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts to be on high alert and said funds have been sanctioned for relief measures.

He said impact of the cyclone will be felt in Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Guntur, Krishna, NTR, West Godavari, Eluru, East Godavari, Kakinada, Konaseema, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Vijayanagaram, Srikakulam, Parvathipuram, and Alluri Sitaramaraju districts and directed the officials to be more vigilant in coastal areas and low lying areas.

He instructed the officials to alert people in low lying areas and evacuate them to relief camps if necessary. The officials informed the Chief Minister that they have set up relief camps at 454 locations and the Chief Minister instructed the officials to set up more camps at required locations.

The Chief Minister instructed the officials to keep diesel generators, JCBs and other material required for relief measures ready and also essential commodities like rice, pulses and cooking oil are available. He said various departments should work with coordination. He added that there are no casualties.

He instructed the officials to evacuate everyone in low lying areas and ensure their needs including food and accommodation are fulfilled and added to give Rs1,000 per head or Rs2,000 per family so that they can repair their houses damaged due to rains. He said the helpline should be set up properly and awareness should be created among people on it. He instructed the officials to come up with a permanent solution to the beach road problem in Uppada.

Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayati Raj and Rural Development) Budi Mutyala Naidu, Home Minister Taneti Vanitha, Roads & Buildings Minister Dadisetti Ramalingeswara Rao (Raja), Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, DGP KV Rajendranath Reddy, Disaster Management Special Chief Secretary G Sai Prasad, Agriculture Special Chief Secretary Poonam Malakondaiah, Housing Special Chief Secretary Ajay Jain, Transport and Medical Health Principal Secretary MT Krishnababu, Disaster Management Director B R Ambedkar and other senior officials were present in the meeting.