PM Narendra Modi reviews 'extremely severe' cyclonic storm 'Fani', expected to hit Odisha on Friday: UPDATES

Odisha Govt has evacuated 3,31794 people so far. A total of 11,54,475 people are planned to be evacuated. 4,852 cyclone and flood shelters have been identified. 

Kolkata airport will be shut from 9.30 pm on May 3 till 6 pm on May 4.

Hours before the impending Cyclone Fani, Rajan Bargotra, the Commander of Coast Guard Region (NE) confirmed that all coast guard units in Odisha and West Bengal are fully prepared for the situation. He said that the disaster relief teams have been formed along Odisha and Bengal coast which would be providing relief assistance.

District Administration of Purba Medinipur, West Bengal, to take immediate measures so that all the tourists leave Digha, Mandarmani, Sankarpur, Tajpur and other tourist spots to avoid any untoward incident due to CycloneFani.

Keeping in mind the Safety & Security of Train Passengers in view of Cyclone-FANI, Railways earlier had cancelled 107 trains from 1st to 3rd May 2019. It has further decided to cancel 40 more trains on different days. 

Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik visits Special Relief Organisation office to review preparedness. He advised citizens to remain indoors until Cyclone Fani passes and urged all officials to make their best efforts to deal with the situation.

Here are some pics from the sea. See the roll and submerged quarter deck of the ship.

No flight will depart or arrive at Kolkata airport between 9.30 pm on May 3 and 6 pm on May 4 due to cyclone Fani.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for Cyclone Fani.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the likely path of the cyclone, and the ongoing precautionary and preparatory measures being undertaken, official sources said.

These include provision of adequate resources; deployment of teams from NDRF and the armed forces; arrangements to provide drinking water; and standby systems to restore power and telecom services.

READ | Cyclone 'Fani' Forces IAF To Postpone BrahMos Testfiring

After reviewing the emerging situation, the prime minister instructed senior officersto maintain close coordination with officers of affected states, to ensure preventive measures, and also to take effective steps for relief and rescue operations, as required.

The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, the Principal Secretary to the PM, the Additional Principal Secretary to the PM, the Home Secretary, and other senior officials from the IMD, NDRF, NDMA and PMO.

Cyclone Fani is expected to hit the coast of Odisha tomorrow. Nearly eight lakh people are being evacuated from low-lying areas of the state as a precautionary measure.

The Railways said around 89 trains have been cancelled in the last two days in view of the 'extremely severe' cyclonic storm 'Fani', which is likely to affect Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, while three special trains have been put into service to ferry stranded passengers from affected areas.

READ | Centre orders release of Rs 1,086 crore to 4 states as advance assistance for cyclone 'Fani'

The national transporter said it will grant full refund to passengers for the cancelled or diverted trains if tickets are produced for cancellation within three days from the scheduled date of journey.

The Railways had cancelled 81 trains on Wednesday.

The Coast guard has tied up with NDRF and state administration to provide immediate relief in aftermath of cyclone Fani. "From April 25 our ships and aircraft are continuously patrolling the areas and we have been sending out weather warnings to the fishermen," Paramesh, IG Coast Guard East.

As Cyclone Fani is expected to hit the coastal region on Friday, people at Puri beach are warned to keep away from the sea.

See pictures: 

Relief materials are already in place and preparations for the distribution of the same is underway at Red Cross Bhavan in Bhubaneswar.

Take a look:

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-positioned its 54 rescue and 
relief teams along the seacoast and in flood-prone areas of Andhra Pradesh (12 teams), Andaman & Nicobar Islands (02 teams), Jharkhand (02 teams), Kerala (02 teams), Odisha (28 teams), Tamil Nadu (02 teams) and West Bengal (06 teams), in the wake of looming severe cyclone 'FANI' for rescue and relief operations. 

Indian Navy deploys 7 warships (3 warships following the eye of the storm + 4 warships off TN Coast), keep 6 fixed wing ac, 7 helicopters standby at INS Dega Vizag along with Divers, rubberised craft, medical teams and HADR relief material

All GoAir flights in and out from Bhubaneswar Airport (BBI) stands cancelled for 03 May 2019.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has also kept 31 teams on alert mode at NDRF bases viz. Andhra Pradesh (06 teams), Jharkhand (01 team), Tamil Nadu 
(12 teams) & West Bengal (12 teams) to supplement the response, if needed. Additional teams are also kept on standby in other NDRF battalions and shall be mobilized as per requirement.

NDRF teams comprising of doctors, paramedics, engineers, deep divers are equipped with boats, lifebuoy, life jacket, scuba sets & latest communication equipment viz. 

Quick Deployable Antenna (QDA), HF/VHF Sets, Satellite Phone are on alert standby in the coastal parts of the vulnerable States. These latest communication equipments can work even in the failure of a normal communication network. 
 

All teams are keeping close vigil over the development of cyclonic storm with the local administration. Essential equipment and tools are kept on ready in vulnerable locations. Director General, NDRF is closely monitoring the situation round the clock and is in close touch with other agencies and stakeholders.

Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu says he would visit cyclone affected regions in the state if necessary. He further states that he has written a letter to Election Commission seeking exemption from election code of conduct to monitor the situation during the cyclone.

Navy PRO Capt DK Sharma said that 3 Navy ships carrying enough of Humanitarian Aid Distress Relief (HADR) material, relief items and medicines have been put to sea yesterday. Moreover,  6 fixed-wing aircraft and 7 helicopters are also kept ready at Vishakhapatnam airbase.

Over 4,000 specialized personnel as part of 81 NDRF teams have been deployed, 50 teams have been pre-positioned in the coastal areas of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal which are feared to be affected while another 31 teams have been kept on standby.

Over 87 trains have been cancelled due to Cyclone Fani. In a recent press release, Northen Railways gave a list of trains that have been cancelled.  

Take a look:

TRAINS CANCELLED JOURNEY COMMENCING ON 02.05.2019
22812 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express.
22824 New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express.
12816 Anand Vihar Terminal-Puri Nandan Kanan Express. 
18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express.
12801 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express.
12802 New Delhi-Puri Purushottam Express. 

TRAINS CANCELLED JOURNEY COMMENCING ON 03.05.2019

22823 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.
12875 Puri-New Delhi Neelanchal Express.
18477 Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express
12801 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express

TRAINS CANCELLED JOURNEY COMMENCING ON 04.05.2019

20817 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
12815 Puri-New Delhi Nandan Kanan Express  
DIVERSION OF TRAINS 

The 18507 Visakhapatnam-Amritsar Hirakud Express Journey Commencing on 03.05.2019 shall be diverted to run via Vijaynagaram-Titlagarah-Sambalpur Jn.

Twenty-eight fully equipped teams have been deployed in and around Puri in Odisha. 12 teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh and six in West Bengal. 

The rest of the teams, that comprise about 50 personnel each, have been kept on standby in these states.

They have been equipped with additional boats, satellite phones, medical equipment, medicines, tree cutters, pickup and common mobility vehicles, and other gadgets

The force has also activated a round-the-clock control room at its headquarters here and a team of officials is in constant touch with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the disaster response units of the three states.

NDRF teams have also been kept on alert in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. 

Sangram Mohapatra, the Spokesperson of the Odisha State Disaster Management Authority said that the landfall which was expected to be at 5:30 pm tomorrow, is now expected between 12 pm-2 pm. All colleges and soft business establishments will be closed for the day.

No flights will take off from midnight today for the next 24 hrs from Bhubaneswar Airport.