Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday directed railways to take precautionary measures in anticipation of Cyclone Montha’s impact on the East Coast, particularly in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana.
All officials of East Coast Railway (ECoR) and South-Central Railway (SCR) zones have been directed to remain on high alert and to take proactive steps for the quick restoration of train services following the impact of severe cyclonic storm Montha’, which is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada.
The Railway Minister reviewed ongoing measures for passenger safety, train regulation, restoration planning, and coordination with local administrations and disaster management authorities.
Among the key actions that the Union Minister has directed are the activation of divisional war rooms and the readying of essential materials, machinery, and manpower, especially in the Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, and Guntur divisions.
Vaishnaw directed that monitoring of train operations be intensified to minimise passenger inconvenience. He directed officials to mobilise resources for emergency response and take necessary precautions.
As per an update by the IMD, the Severe Cyclonic Storm Montha over westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph and lay centered at 1.30 pm today over the same region about 100 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 180 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 270 km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and 500 km south-southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha).
In view of Cyclone Montha, forming over the central Bay of Bengal, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-deployed 25 teams across the likely-affected coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Puducherry. A total of 20 additional teams are kept on standby at strategic locations for immediate deployment, if required. Each team is equipped with boats, cutting equipment, communication equipments, and other specialised rescue tools to carry out evacuation, relief, and restoration operations.
(ANI)