Cyclone Vardah: Rajnath reviews relief operations

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today reviewed with senior officials the progress of relief operations in cyclone Vardah battered areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Singh ordered that the inter-ministerial central team should be ready to go to the states immediately on receipt of the memorandum from the state governments.
The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Member Secretary, NDMA, DG of NDRF and senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Director General of National Disaster Response Force informed that eight teams consisting of 268 rescuers along with 29 boats have been deployed in Tamil Nadu.

NDRF teams are removing road blockage. Three more teams of NDRF consisting of 108 rescuers along with 15 boats have also been sent to Chennai.
Six teams of NDRF consisting of 205 rescuers along with 20 boats have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh.

Flights have also become operational at Chennai airport since this morning.
Singh expressed satisfaction on the preparedness of the central and state agencies which has resulted in minimising casualties.
As per status report, in Tamil Nadu, a total 297 relief centres have been opened and 104 are in operation.
"A total of 13,578 people were evacuated to shelters and human losses reported 16, hut damaged 55, trees fallen 9,154, electrical poles damaged 5,200, transformers damaged 71 and out of 312 road blocked 152 have been cleared," an official statement said.

In Andhra Pradesh, a total of 59 relief centres are in operation and 10,960 persons are evacuated from vulnerable/low lying areas in Andhra Pradesh.
Two persons died in Chittoor, 391 villages were affected, 602 poles fallen and 12 trees uprooted.
All uprooted trees have been cleared and lifting of poles is in progress.
As per IMD bulletin issued in the morning, the Deep Depression over north Tamil Nadu moved further west-south westwards during past six hours with a speed of 20 kmph, weakened into a depression and lay centered at 0530 hrs today morning, over north interior Tamil Nadu, about 50 km west of Tiruppattur and 40 km north of Dharmapuri.

The system is very likely to continue to move west-sothwestwards and weaken gradually into a well marked low pressure area during next few hours.