Chandrababu Naidu pats officials for disaster preventive measures

Amaravati: While appreciating the government machinery for effectively implementing disaster preventive measures before Cyclone Phethai made a landfall in the State, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that it was just a rehearsal exercise for the State.

He pointed out that as Phethai was not a major cyclone, the damage caused was minimal when compared to the earlier Cyclone Titli which hit Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.

Naidu held a review meeting with officials on the impact of Cyclone Phethai at the Secretariat at Velagapudi on Monday evening. He said the precautions taken by the State government helped in minimising the damage.

Naidu instructed the Collectors to pay attention to prevent post cyclone communicable diseases in the cyclone-hit areas including the Agency areas. He asked the officials to take up relief measures on a real time.

He directed them to use Drone technology to enumerate damage caused by Phethai. “During Titli, our officials did not go to the villages, but now our officials were present in each Phethai affected village well in advance. That created confidence among people,” he pointed out.

When the landfall happened, the wind speed has reduced. Thus there was not much damage done, Naidu said.  “Everything relating to the cyclone including intensity, impact and other details must be analysed,” he said.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to give 50 kg rice, dal and other commodities to the people in villages affected by the cyclone. The package is similar to the package provided to the victims of Cyclone Titli.

The Chief Minister congratulated 15 Ministers and 51 IAS officers who discharged their duties successfully in cyclone hit districts. Chandrababu Naidu advised the officials to take up a case study of cyclones with proper documentation to be well prepared in advance to meet the future challenges during cyclones.

He said electrical poles should be geo-tagged to identify the damaged poles and for quick restoration. He said officials should be able to gauge the probable damage based on wind velocity in advance to take up relief measures immediately.