Cyclone Yaas: PM Reviews Preparedness; Odisha & Bengal On Edge

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Odisha and Bengal are gearing up for Cyclone Yaas, which is expected to make landfall between the two states on May 26 evening, the IMD said on Sunday.

According to the national weather agency, the “very severe cyclonic storm” will cross the coastline between north Odisha and Sundarbans in West Bengal

In a related development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to review preparations for the approaching cyclone on Sunday, news agency ANI reported.

Home Minister Amit Shah and other central ministers were present at the meeting. Senior government officials and representatives from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), secretaries from the telecom, power, civil aviation and earth sciences ministries were also present.

“The PM directed senior officers to work in close co-ordination with states to ensure safe evacuation of people from high-risk areas,” read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Modi also instructed all the departments concerned to ensure timely evacuation of those involved in off-shore activities. “He spoke about the need to ensure that time duration of outages of power supply and communication networks are minimum and are restored swiftly,” the statement added.

Odisha Preparedness

The state government has deployed a 22-member team of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) in the wake of the approaching Cyclone Yaas.

The government has also directed the administrations of the coastal districts to stockpile essential items in advance and relocate people to local wind shelters.

In a related development, state-of-the-art equipment have been sent to the port town of Paradip to protect the trees and remove roadblocks.

Also Read: Cyclone Yaas Update: Depression Over Bay Of Bengal In Next 12 Hours