The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, chaired a high-level meeting immediately on return from Maharashtra this evening, to review the status of relief and rescue operations in areas affected by Cyclone Hudhud.The Prime Minister shall be visiting Vizag tomorrow for a first-hand assessment of the situation there. He shall also take an aerial view of the affected parts of Odisha. The Prime Minister was briefed on the extent of destruction, including the damage to infrastructure such as roads, railway lines, buildings, power and telecommunication lines. He was also given an overview of the status of relief operations and steps taken to ensure supply of essential commodities including food, drinking water and fuel. He was informed that the extent of damage to standing crops shall be assessed over the next few days. The Prime Minister, instructed top officials of the Union Government to continue to work closely with the affected states to ensure that there are no bottlenecks in relief and rescue work. He also emphasized the need to document learnings from this cyclone, and to put in place more precise drills and disaster management plans involving all stakeholders, especially in areas which are prone to such disasters.
