Home Minister Amit Shah reviews preparedness for cyclone Vayu

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday reviewed the preparedness of state and Central ministries and agencies to deal with the situation arising out of cyclone 'Vayu' which is likely to hit Gujarat on Thursday.

After reviewing the situation at a high level meeting, Shah directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people are safely evacuated and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water among others and that these are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them.

He also directed 24/7 functioning of control rooms, according to an official release.

"NDRF has pre-positioned 26 teams which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipment and is moving another 10 teams as requested by the Gujarat government. Indian Coast Guard, the Navy, Army and Air Force units have also been put on standby and surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out aerial surveillance," the release said.

The meeting comes in the wake of the Indian Meteorological Department's (IMD) prediction that cyclone Vayu is likely to hit the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval and Diu region as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of 110-120 kmh that may touch 135 kmh during early morning of June 13.

The cyclone is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Gujarat and storm surge of height of about 1-1.5 metres above the astronomical tides likely to inundate the low-lying coastal areas of Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagarh, Diu, Gir Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts at the time of landfall.

The meeting was attended by the Home Secretary, Secretary in Ministry of Earth Sciences, and senior officers of IMD and Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Cabinet Secretary has also convened a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee on Tuesday evening to review the preparedness of the state and Central agencies.

The meeting will be attended by Chief Secretary of Gujarat and Advisor to the Administrator of Diu among others.

The Home Ministry said it is in continuous touch with the Gujarat government, the Diu administration and the central agencies concerned.

( With inputs from IANS )