Govt puts emergency services on alert to face likely heavy rain
The people of Jharkhand especially those living close to Odisha border can now relax as cyclone 'Hudhud' shied away from Jharkhand and so has the threat of large-scale devastation receded. The storm hit the eastern coast of India near Visakhapatnam at 12 pm on October on Sunday.
The Indian Meteorological Department at Ranchi confirmed that the cyclone has weakened considerably and moved in the west-northwestwards direction after hitting shorelines on the Andhra coast. The effect on Jharkhand is likely to be limited to heavy rainfall accompanied by low velocity wind. The southern parts of Jharkhand are likely to be worst affected due to conditions borne out of 'Hudhud'.
"There is no imminent threat over Jharkhand. The cyclone has moved towards Madhya Pradesh. However, Jharkhand will witness heavy rainfall during next two days. Velocity of the wind will be around 20-30 kmph," said the Forecast Officer at the IMD Ranchi, U Shrivastava. Nonetheless, the State is gearing up to meet any eventuality and issued advisories to people besides floating helpline numbers for each district. The Disaster Management department has alerted district administrations specifically of bordering districts of West Singhbhum, East Singhbhum and Saraikela.
A control room has been set up to answer distress calls and disaster management activities have been intensified by putting up essential services on alert. The control rooms have been provided with numbers of all essential services to contact and route resources to the point of disaster. The services will be pressed in from today as the State will be under the grip of a part of the cyclonic activity from morning and will subside by October 15. "As of now there is no casualty reported. We are on alert and we are in touch with the Disaster Management officials to get minute by minute details of cyclonic activity," said Deputy Commissioner of West Singhbhum, Abu Backer Siddique.
One of the worst affected services among all will be electricity supply. According to Jharkhand Urja Vikas Nigam limited (JUVNl) electricity generation will be affected to some extent because of the cyclone and the department is on alert to avert risks to the transmission infrastructure. The JUVNl has set up a control room in Ranchi that will be managed by officials of the rank of Executive Engineer. Also, the electricity department has roped in 14 contractors each with a team to put back infrastructure in place if it is damaged due to gusty winds.
"We have taken all precautions. Our CMD has instructed all General Managers to cut transmission of electricity if Jharkhand is lashed by gusty winds and heavy rainfall," said JUVNl senior official Pandey Ramanikant Sinha. Meanwhile, the State Government has urged the people to not give in to rumors and keep themselves abreast of the cyclone warnings . Advisories include switching off electricity and monitoring water level of dams, rivers and other water reservoirs.