Delhi: Cabinet Secretary chairs NCMC meeting to review preparedness for Cyclone Bulbul

A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), chaired by the Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba was held on Friday here to review the preparedness to deal with Severe cyclone Bulbul which is hovering over the Bay of Bengal.

This cyclone is likely to affect coastal districts of West Bengal and Odisha in the coming days.

IMD informed that the Cyclone that had developed in the Bay of Bengal, has now intensified and is likely to cross the West Bengal coast by the early morning of November 10, 2019.

Officials of West Bengal and Odisha governments informed media that necessary preparations have been made by them and SDRF and fire service teams have been deployed.

Fishing has been suspended and people in low lying areas are being evacuated to shelter homes. 14 teams of NDRF have been positioned and additional teams are being deployed at the request of states.

Officials of Ministry of Defence intimated that teams of Coast Guard and Indian Navy are already deployed and Army and Air Force are on standby.

The Cabinet Secretary took stock of the current situation and preparedness for rescue and relief operations and directed that immediate assistance, as required, be provided. He advised both the states to take all steps to avoid casualties and damage to infrastructure and assured them of all assistance from the Centre in this regard.

The government of West Bengal was specifically requested to ensure that people in low lying areas in Sagar islands, East Medinipur and North and South 24 Pargana districts are evacuated to prevent any loss of life. They were also requested to ensure that all fishermen presently at sea are brought back to the shore.

Senior officials of the Ministries of Home, Defence, as well as those from IMD and NDRF, NDMA attended the meeting. Senior officers from West Bengal and Orissa participated in the meeting through video conference.

( With inputs from ANI )