Defence forces to remain on alert for floods

Defence forces are on alert in view of heavy rains in Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal following cyclone Phailin to deal with any flood situation, an official release said.

It said that Defence Crisis Management Group (DCMG) carried out a holistic assessment of the ground situation Tuesday as part of daily meeting with the representatives of all services, Coast Guard, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and state governments.

"In anticipation of the likely flood situation arising in these states, it was decided to keep the defence forces on alert to mitigate the challenges at short notice," the release said.

The release also listed relief efforts carried out by the army, air force and navy.

It said that overall force commander along with other commanders of the unified headquarters at Bhubaneswar continue to maintain direct liaison with the state administration to fine tune the relief operations by the three services and the Coast Guard.