Chennai, Nov 24 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar

on Tuesday announced that the 108 ambulance services are in a state

of preparedness to attend to emergencies in view of the onset of the

Cyclone Nivar, which would make a land fall tomorrow night,

Talking to reporters, he said the fuel tanks of all the ambulances were

filled to capacity.

He also said about 2,000 litres of fuel has been procured to operate

generators in case of power failure at the 108 emergency call response

centres.

Additional manpower has been deployed and the vehicles were kept in

readiness near government hospitals and police stations to prevent any

problems arising out of power failure and disruption of telecommunication

facilities, the Minister said.

He said more than 450 ambulances were kept in state of readiness to

operate in the coastal districts of Nagapsttinam, Cuddalore, Pudukottai,

Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Chengalpattu, where the rains were expected

to be heavy to extremely heavy.

Arrangements have also been made to integrate fire service and police

control rooms for emergencies, he added.

Dr Vijayabaskar said a 24-hour emergency centre has been set up to send

out the government's alerts as SMS and through WhatsApp.

People may contact 044-28888105 or 7338895011 for assistance in case of

emergencies.

UNI GV 1650