Rescue teams on standby, fishermen advised to stay away from sea: MHA on cyclone Asani

The Union home ministry said on Thursday rescue teams are on standby for deployment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as the Union territory braced itself for Asani--the year's first cyclone--which is likely to develop over the central Bay of Bengal on March 21.

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“Fishing, tourism and fishing activities stopped. Fishermen advised to return from sea. @adgpi, @indiannavy, @IAF_MCC, @IndiaCoastGuard on standby. Central ministries ready with assistance if required,” the Ministry of home affairs (MHA) said in a Twitter post.

The ministry also informed that a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is already stationed in the UT's capital city, Port Blair. “Additional teams ready, to be airlifted if required. Andaman and Nicobar admin ready with sufficient stocks of emergency supplies and measures to protect the population and restoration of infrastructure,” it further said.

Sharing further details, the Amit Shah-headed ministry also said that according to information provided by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the low pressure area in southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a cyclonic storm by March 21, carrying with it winds with speed of 70-80 kmph.

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The MHA's instructions came after Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla, earlier today, chaired a meeting to review the preparedness of central agencies and the Andaman and Nicobar administration for the impending phenomenon.

On March 19, two days before the expected date of landfall, light to moderate rainfall/thundershowers are likely in the south Andaman Sea, according to IMD. The weather body has also projected ‘heavy to very heavy rainfall’ at a few places, and ‘extremely heavy rainfall’ at isolated places in the archipelago.