AP braces for Michaung

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh administration is fully geared up to meet any eventuality in the wake of the Cyclone Michaung which is looming over west-central and coastal south Andhra Pradesh and has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm. Already many places in the state on Monday witnessed heavy rainfall on Monday.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department, the severe cyclonic storm is likely to intensify gradually and move northwards almost parallel and close to the south Andhra Pradesh coast and cross between Nellore and Machilipatnam, close to Bapatla during the forenoon of Tuesday.

The weather system is expected to blow maximum sustained winds reaching up to speeds of 100 kmph and gusting to 110 kmph as well. Due to incessant rains, the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has temporarily denied permission for devotees to take holy bath at Sri Kapilathirtham waterfalls. Traffic from Chennai to Nellore has been stopped due to heavy water logging.

Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy held a review meeting and directed all district collectors to be on high alert and shift people from low-lying areas to safer places and also ensure that all arrangements regarding food, milk and other essentials were properly made.

An alert was issued to the districts of Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema, and Kakinada. The severe cyclonic storm is expected to make landfall near Bapatla on Tuesday around noon. The weather system is expected to persist until December 7 and thereafter become a deep depression.

Besides the sanction of Rs 2 crore to Tirupati district and Rs 1 crore each to Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema and Kakinada districts for relief measures, the Chief Minister promised additional funds if needed. Senior IAS officers have been deployed as special officers in the affected districts from Monday to join the relief efforts, focusing on preventing loss of life, both human and livestock.

Officials have been directed to focus on safeguarding crops and saving the kharif harvest. Until Sunday, up to 97,000 tonnes of paddy has been collected while 6.5 lakh tonnes of paddy has been moved to safer storage locations with instructions to carefully manage their moisture content.

Meanwhile, the evacuation process of affected people is underway at 181 relief camps across the eight districts. Five National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and an equal number of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in the affected districts.

While returning from the relief camps, officials have been directed to handover financial assistance of Rs 2,500 per family and Rs 1,000 in case of individual evacuees. In case of severely affected thatched houses, the CM directed officials to distribute a financial assistance of Rs 10,000, food rations of 25 kg rice, along with pulses, edible oil, onions and potatoes to the evacuees. He directed officials to prioritise the safe shifting of pregnant women, and to monitor the spread of communicable diseases.

Due to incessant rains, the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams have temporarily denied permission for devotees to take holy bath at Sri Kapilathirtham waterfalls. TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh postponed his ‘Yuva Galam’ padayatra (political walkathon) by three days in view of the inclement weather.