Shift people to safer places, provide relief: CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy

Vijayawada: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday directed the administration to be on a high alert in the coastal districts in the wake of the cyclone threat.

Evacuation should be undertaken of people to safe places and they should be properly accommodated with all facilities, he added.

Reviewing the situation on Wednesday morning with the Collectors and the SPs, the Chief Minister said both precautionary measures and relief measures should be rolled out without any delay.

He said the Collectors of Bapatla, Krishna, West Godavari, Konaseema, Kakinada, Visakhapatnam and Anakapalle districts should not hesitate to put all counter-cyclone measures in place to help the people and mitigate their suffering. Special funds had been sanctioned for these measures, he said.

He said impact of the cyclone would also be felt in Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla, Guntur, Krishna, NTR, West Godavari, Eluru, East Godavari, Kakinada, Konaseema, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle, Vizianagaram, 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. More relief camps should be set up in addition to the 454 already put in place in the State, he said.

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. He said various departments should work in coordination. Relief camps should be properly maintained and directed the officials to inspect those.

Each family affected by rain should be given Rs 2,000 for immediate repairs to damaged houses or Rs 1,000 per head. Helplines should be set up properly and awareness should be created among people. He instructed the officials to come up with a permanent solution to the beach road problem in Uppada.

Deputy Chief Minister (Panchayat 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 at the meeting.