Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review the response preparedness against cyclone Amphan developing in the Bay of Bengal, and assured all possible Central assistance to the states which are likely to be hit.
Soon after the meeting, the prime minister wrote on Twitter that he prays for everyone's safety "and assure all possible support from the central government."
At the review meet, PM Modi took stock of the situation and reviewed the measures as well as the evacuation plan presented by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), a statement from the Prime Minister''s Office said.
"During the presentation of the response plan, DG NDRF (SN Pradhan) informed that 25 NDRF teams have been deployed on the ground while 12 others are ready in reserve. Twenty-four other NDRF teams are also on standby in different parts of the country," the statement said.
The prime minister said he "reviewed the preparedness regarding the situation due to cyclone "Amphan". The response measures as well as evacuation plans were discussed."
Home Minister Amit Shah, Principal Advisor to the PM P K Sinha and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba also attended the meeting.
Cyclone Amphan, which is expected to make a landfall in Bengal on Wednesday, has turned in to a "super cyclone", the weather office said this afternoon. It had intensified into an extremely severe cylonic storm overnight. "The Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm 'AMPHAN' (pronounced as UM-PUN) intensified into Super Cyclonic Storm at 1130 IST of today, the 18th May, 2020." The India Meteorological Department or IMD tweeted this afternoon.
It is likely to move north-northeastwards and fast across the northwest Bay of Bengal, and cross the West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts between Digha and the Hatia island as a very severe cyclonic storm, the department said.
This has raised the likelihood of heavy rains and high-velocity winds in coastal Odisha and the state government has initiated the process of evacuating people from the vulnerable areas. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea till May 21, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said.
Several southern states were also hit by heavy rain due to the storm. A "very heavy rain warning" has been issued for Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya till Thursday (May 21).
