Vijayawada, Nov 29 (UNI) In the wake of Cyclone Ditwah, Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary P. Vijayanand on Saturday directed the Collectors of Chittoor, Tirupati, Annamaya, Sri Sathya Sai, Nellore, Bapatla and Prakasam districts to remain on high alert and initiate immediate precautionary measures.
Chief Secretary Vijayanand held a video conference with the district Collectors on Saturday and instructed them to take appropriate precautionary measures to ensurethat no fishermen venture into the sea for fishing until next Tuesday due to the cyclone.Similarly, he said that the people and farmers in the respective districtsshould be alerted by the Disaster Management Organization and RTGS through SMS.Farmers should be alerted to take appropriate precautions in agricultural workand take steps to prevent the paddy from getting wet.
The Chief Secretary said that people living in dilapidatedhouses should be identified and moved to safer areas in advance. He also suggestedthat appropriate advance arrangements should be made to move people to reliefcamps if necessary.
He told the officials that if trees are uprooted anywhere due to thecyclone, steps should be taken to remove them at the earliest and action shouldbe taken without disrupting traffic. If there are power disruptions, stepsshould be taken to restore power supply on a war footing. The Chief Secretary instructed the Collectors to issueadvance warnings and avoid standing under the trees and hoardings during stronggusty winds.
The cyclone 'Ditwah' formed in the southwest Bay of Bengal iscurrently centered on the Sri Lankan coast, 220 km from Karaikal, 330 km fromPuducherry and 430 km from Chennai. It is moving at a speed of 7 km per hour.This cyclone is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Sundaymorning and reach the coasts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and South Coastal AndhraPradesh. Due to the impact of Cyclone Ditwah there is a possibility ofheavy rains in Chittoor and Tirupati districts.
Similarly, Nellore,Kadapa and Annamaya districts are likely to receive moderate to heavy rains atisolated places. Bapatla, Palnadu, Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur and Sri SathyaSai districts are likely to receive light to moderate rains. Special Chief Secretary Agriculture B Rajasekhar, MD DisasterManagement Authority Prakhar Jain, MD Civil Supplies Corporation Delhi Rao,Director Indian Meteorological Centre Amaravati Stella, Director of NDRF, ENCsof Water Resources, Protected Drinking Water Supply Departments, CMDs of SPDCL,CPDCL and other officials participated in this teleconference.
UNI DP AAB