THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state is well-prepared to face any eventuality caused by Cyclone Burevi, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. He said as per the latest reports, the cyclone’s impact will be less severe when it reaches the state.
“According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), by Friday afternoon, the cyclone is expected to touch base in Kerala... it is expected to arrive in the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram border. Once in land, the expected maximum wind speed is expected to be 60km in an hour,” he said.
With the cyclone weakening into a deep depression, IMD has changed the very heavy rainfall orange alert to yellow indicating that there will be only isolated heavy rainfall in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF)teams have been deployed in these districts The Air Force and Navy have kept aircraft and rescue ships on standby. The Army and paramilitary forces are also ready for deployment for emergency services. As many as 2,891 relief camps have been opened to shift the people from high risk zones. A state emergency operation centre and district emergency operation centres will function round-the-clock. Updates on the path of the cyclone and the areas under threat will be passed on every three hours. Depending upon the situation, decisions on the Sabarimala pilgrimage, opening of the dams and the power distribution will be taken by respective district disaster management authorities. All the telecom operators have been asked to keep ready Communication on Wheels system ready for emergency purpose.
In addition, they have been asked to keep ready diesel generators in tower centres. The preparations taken by the state to meet the cyclone threat has been communicated to the Union cabinet secretary, said the chief minister. Already, each district has been assigned to a minister who will also coordinate the relief measures. In addition, IAS officers have been deployed to assist collectors in each district, he added.