The round-the-clock updates on cyclone Fani by the Real-Time Governance Society (RTGS) State Centre at the Secretariat won accolades from the Odisha government, which conveyed its gratitude for helping it in preventing human toll and mitigating property damages by giving timely and accurate advisories.
Odisha had sought the assistance of RTGS in cyclone preparedness, as part of which alerts were disseminated to the Chief Secretary of that State and Collectors of affected districts through an exclusive WhatsApp Group. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Chief Secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam too praised RTGS for its continuous alerts.
According to an official release, a battery of officers led by the RTGS CEO Babu A. maintained continuous vigil right from April 26 when Fani took shape as a low-pressure area and rapidly transformed into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
Scientists at RTGS-AWARE (AP Weather Forecasting and Early Disaster Warning) have since kept a close watch on the direction and speed at which Fani moved and came up with the forecast that it would make the landfall at Puri in Odisha. Regular alerts have been sent from the mandal-level to the Collectors and officials of all coastal districts, especially those in the north coastal belt.
The RTGS stated that winds with a maximum velocity of 140 km would hit the coast and prevented the exposure of lakhs of people to the calamity with the help of the Roads and Buildings, Police and other line departments by facilitating their shifting to safe places. Messages were sent to 19.38 lakh people through IVRS and phone calls were made to another 11,000.
A major disruption in telecommunications was avoided by putting in place Wireless Emergency Access, Commercial Mobile Alert and Cell Broadcasting systems. Vehicular movement was restricted in the areas battered by the cyclone.
Detailed alerts were issued on the basis of the advanced ensemble modelling for weather forecasting which RTGS availed from the Indian Space Research Organisation. With a toll-free number 1100, the RTGS’ grievance redressal centre — Parishkara Vedika — played a crucial role in getting in touch with the masses.