Cyclone Fani: District authorities alerted in Assam

As cyclone 'Fani' is expected to trigger heavy rains in the northeast after hitting West Bengal, the Assam government Friday directed all district deputy commissioners and agencies concerned to be on alert and take necessary measures to deal with the situation.

The Central Water Commission, in a bulletin, has forecast high rainfall in west and central Assam districts on May 4 and 5.

According to a release by the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA), state disaster response force (SDRF) personnel have been deployed in 40 locations across the state.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have reached for pre-positioning in Cachar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Sonitpur, Tinsukia and Jorhat districts. Dhemaji district and Patgaon in Guwahati each already have an NDRF battalion stationed there, the release said.

Toll-free numbers have been set up in the district and state control rooms which will be operational round the clock. The toll-free number for the district control room is 1077 and the those for the state control room are 1070 and 1079.

The ASDMA is in constant touch with the central government, the Central Water Commission, India Meteorological Department and disaster management authorities of neighbouring states, the statement said.

A defence release Friday said six light helicopters with winch have been kept ready for rescue work, five medium lift helicopters for providing relief materials and four AN-32 aircraft along with medical relief teams have been kept ready for medical help and ferrying NDRF teams with equipment.

Helicopters have been kept ready at Bagdogra and Purnea for quick deployment in Odisha and West Bengal, it said.

Medium lift helicopters have been kept on standby at Kumbhigram in Silchar for deployment in Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. The operations are being supervised by Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, the senior air staff officer of the Eastern Air Command, it added.