Minister visits cyclone-prone coastal villages, NDRF and SDRF teams deployed

Vijayawada: Housing Minister Jogi Ramesh on Monday visited the cyclone-prone coastal areas of Nidamarru village in Kruthivennu mandal of Krishna district.

In view of threats from the severely intensified Cyclone Michaung, the minister gave suggestions to the officials to ensure people’s safety during his interactions with members of the SDRF and NDRF battalions.

The officials said teams from the state disaster response force (SDRF) and national disaster response force (NDRF) were deployed in coastal villages to assist the relief operations. One NDRF team consisting of 25 members was deployed at Machilipatnam mandalam and an SDRF team of 37 members in Avanigadda mandal.

The district administration arranged 2,408 boats for relief operations in the district. Of these, 313 boats were placed in Kruthivennu mandal, 1,023 boats in Nagayalanka, 206 boats in Koduru and 866 boats in Machilipatnam mandal.

On Monday, the authorities issued the seventh cyclone flag alert to the Machilipatnam fishing harbour. As a result, boat owners anchored their boats at the harbour. Krishna district collector Raja Babu said 57 rehabilitation centres were arranged in all the seven coastal mandals in the district.

So far, 1,899 people have been moved from low-lying areas to rehabilitation centres, where they were being provided breakfast, milk, food, etc. Based on the cyclone’s severity, another 7,000 people would be moved from villages to rehabilitation centres.

Krishna district SP Joshua said the police department deployed 1,000 personnel for the cyclone relief measures.