Cyclone Montha: Nara Lokesh instructs officials to restore power, monitor bridges and ensure drinking water in affected areas

Amaravati: Minister for Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) Nara Lokesh conducted a high-level teleconference from the State Secretariat with District Collectors of cyclone-affected districts to review preparedness and relief measures in the wake of Cyclone Montha.

He directed the immediate restoration of essential services and strengthened public health safeguards in inundated areas.

Continuous monitoring of the cyclone situation

The Minister instructed officials to maintain heightened alertness across all affected districts for the next 48 hours, with continuous field supervision and rapid-response protocols to minimise risk to life and property.

He emphasised strict monitoring of vulnerable points, including bridges and culverts, and immediate strengthening of damaged tanks, ponds, canal bunds, and urban drains to prevent secondary breaches.

Key directives issued in the meeting include:

- Ensure 100 per cent restoration of electricity to households and commercial establishments in all cyclone-impacted localities on an urgent basis, with priority to hospitals, water supply systems and critical infrastructure.

- Fire Services to deploy adequate teams and equipment to clear silt, slush, and debris from roadways to restore mobility for emergency services and public transport.

- Take protective measures to save rain-impacted standing crops and expedite scientific crop loss assessment to facilitate timely relief and compensation to farmers.

- Report all instances of loss of life and structural damage attributable to the severe cyclonic impact of Montha, with authenticated field records and geotagged evidence for expedited relief processing.

- Intensively monitor bridges and culverts; immediately reinforce storm-damaged tanks, ponds, and canal embankments to avert further inundation risks.

- Implement robust disease-prevention measures in flooded localities, ensure availability of anti-venom for snakebites at all primary health centres and referral hospitals, and proactively conduct public health outreach.

- Maintain sanitation in all affected wards and ensure supply of safe drinking water through tankers, interim chlorination, and testing where required.

- Distribute essential commodities to fishermen and other vulnerable communities in cyclone-affected coastal and inland pockets to stabilise livelihoods and nutrition during the relief phase.

The Minister noted that Cyclone Montha is expected to bring intense rainfall and strong winds across coastal Andhra Pradesh. He said the situation necessitates a unified, time-bound response from all departments to safeguard citizens and restore normalcy swiftly. He directed the Real Time Governance System department to support district administrations with live dashboards, field verification, and escalation protocols for rapid issue resolution.