Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to meet any events like the Hudhud cyclone in the future, ensuring zero deaths and minimizing damage to property.
Leveraging the lessons learnt from the Hudhud cyclone experience which had severely affected north coastal Andhra Pradesh and particularly Visakhapatnam city, the Andhra Pradesh Government is gearing up to meet any such eventualities in the future, ensuring zero deaths and also drastically minimizing the damage to public and private properties.
AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu directed the administrative machinery to prepare a blueprint for disaster management tasks with world class standards, and designs which can withstand more than 300 kmph wind velocities in future, by taking into account all the challenges posed by the Hudhud cyclone in all major sectors like agriculture, energy, communications, transport, horticulture and forestry.
Disclosing the above details, Chief Secretary and SECM Chairperson I Y R Krishna Rao, in a meeting with Dr. Elizabeth Weatherhead of the University of Colarado, and Gurdit Singh, Representative of the American Consulate, Hyderabad, said that the precise weather forecasting & effective evacuation and rehabilitation works carried out by State Government officials during the Hudhud Cyclone were appreciated by one and all.
The CS further stated that the intensity with which the Hudhud cyclone hit and the havoc it caused were a once-in-a-century phenomenon, and that the concerted efforts of the Central and State governments, and the official machinery, were instrumental in bringing normalcy to the affected areas in record time.
The Chief Secretary, along with Principal Secretaries Anil Punetha (Agriculture) and Dr. Manmohan Singh (Animal Husbandry & Fisheries), Disaster Management Commissioner Sukumar, and APGenco MD & APTransco CMD K Vijayanand, discussed with Dr. Weatherhead and the US Consulate officials, the weather conditions, cyclone forecasting, environmental protection, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
Dr. Weatherhead listened with interest how Hudhud was tackled through a minute-to-minute monitoring of the trajectory of the cyclone, and how rescue and relief operations were conducted with the help of an SMS-based communication system by the State government, which minimized the death toll to a small figure.
Dr. Weatherhead shared the US experiences in tackling natural disasters, pointing out how private companies contributed in a large measure in disseminating advance information about impending natural disasters.
She opined that it was only by learning from each experience that improvements could be made in tackling natural disasters.
The Chief Secretary further added that the several measures were initiated by the power utilities, which restored power supply to Visakhapatnam city within 3 days.
Krishna Rao stated that the promotion of Energy Conservation & Energy Efficiency (EC&EE) measures has also been recognized as an important activity by the State government for sustainable development and effective implementation of the Power For All programme.
He further added that the government, as part of building greenery again around Visakhapatnam and the north coastal areas, proposed to plant various kinds of plant species that can grow fast and withstand high wind velocities. (INN)