Armed forces, NDRF ready to tackle cyclone Hudhud

Indian armed forces and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Friday said they are fully geared to face the approaching cyclone 'Hudhud'.

The cyclone is likely to hit eastern coast along Odisha and Andhra Pradesh Sunday.

The army has kept its headquarters in Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka and Kerala area and Air Defence College in stand-by mode to undertake relief and rescue operations as and when required.

The navy has also positioned its assets and personnel in some of the important areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, including Chilka and Vishakhapatnam, for possible relief and rescue operation.

The navy has kept teams of personnel ready for relief and rescue operations as cyclone 'Hudhud' approaches the Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts, a navy official said Friday.

The naval base at Vishakhapatnam has kept on stand-by 30 diving teams of 10 personnel each ready with inflatable Gemini crafts and associated equipment.

"Some 20 rescue teams of 10 personnel each are on stand-by and two ships with medical stores are also on stand-by," the official said.

"Medical teams with requisite medical equipment, four helicopters and two fixed wing aircraft are also on stand-by," he said.

The navy has also kept ready three diving teams at Chilka lake in Odisha while two teams are at Kolkata.

The Indian Air Force has, meanwhile, kept one IL-76, one C-17 and two AN-32 aircraft ready at Chandigarh, Delhi and Jorhat, respectively.

Keeping the rescue operations in mind it has kept in standby mode three Chetak at Hyderabad, two Medium Light Helicopters at Barrackpore and two Medium Light Helicopters at Nagpur and Ranchi.

The Indian Coast Guard has also deployed 17 ships, two Air Cushion Vessels (ACVs) and nine aircraft in Eastern and North-Eastern regions to augment the rescue and relief operations, wherever required.

"The movement of the cyclonic storm 'Hudhud' is continuously being monitored and the Armed Forces have been kept in the loop in this regard on regular basis," a statement from defence ministry said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are being positioned in advance at vulnerable places to instil confidence among the residents.

S.S Guleria, the DIG of the NDRF, said 20 teams are there in Odisha and, depending on the course of the cyclone and the necessity, some of them may be brought to Andhra Pradesh coast.

At present, the NDRF teams are ready for deployment from Srikakulam to Kakinada.