The Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday conducted a review meeting at Amaravati on Fani cyclone which is predicted to cross the Odisha coast on Friday morning or afternoon in the vicinity of the temple town of Puri, also affecting the north-coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. The border district of Srikakulam, in particular, is likely to be hit hard, according to officials.

The Chief Minister asked officials to take all precautionary steps to prevent loss of both human lives and property loss during the period of cyclone landfall. He said that as elections were concluded in the State there was no point in keeping silent during the hour of crisis in the name of election code of conduct. If necessary, he would visit the cyclone-affected regions in the state. He said he had written a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner seeking exemption from election code of conduct to monitor the situation during cyclones. He said there should be no communication gap between the Election Commission and the State, especially while dealing with emergencies.

He directed officials to make milk packets and other essentials available in areas likely to be hit by the cyclone. He said there was no need to issue fresh GOs for taking up relief measures during the cyclone. The GOs issued during Titli cyclone are enough to carry out relief operations.

Flight operations

 

IndiGo has cancelled 11 flights to various destinations from Vizag in view of bad weather on Thursday. AirAsia flight from Kolkata to Vizag was diverted to Bhubaneswar due to winds. It later returned to Vizag, officiating Airport Director Dhananjaya Rao said.

 

Train services

 

The railways cancelled 15 more trains and diverted two more trains on Thursday as a precautionary measure in view of the cyclone. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Waltair Division G. Suneel Kumar said there could be further cancellations, depending on the cyclone situation.

 

Sunil Kumar said that special trains were being operated from Puri to Howrah to clear a large number of stranded tourists.

 

Help Desks were opened in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam railway stations to provide information to the public round-the-clock.

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