Control rooms set up amid heavy rain alert

Paderu: The Alluri Sitarama Raju district administration has stepped up preparedness in view of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) warnings of extremely heavy rainfall from October 27 to 29. District Collector T Nishanthi announced that 24-hour emergency control rooms had been established at the district Collectorate and in all mandals to prevent loss of life and property and ensure immediate assistance to people during emergencies. The Collector directed officials to take precautionary measures and respond promptly to any emergency arising from heavy rainfall. Departments concerned were instructed to initiate immediate restoration work if roads were damaged, traffic was disrupted or landslides occurred. Warnings should be issued to prevent people from travelling through dangerous locations, while essential services should be maintained without interruption. She also directed officials to keep temporary rehabilitation centres ready and ensure the availability of drinking water, food, essential medicines and anti-snake venom for affected people. Revenue, police, rural development, health, panchayat raj and roads departments were asked to coordinate their efforts to deal with emergencies effectively.

District Election General Observer Ronanki Kurmanath and Sub-Collector K Chiranjeevi Naga Venkata Sahith visited the emergency control room at the Collectorate on Tuesday and reviewed the arrangements. They interacted with the control room nodal officer and DRDA Project Director G Jayakrishna and the staff on duty to assess the preparedness. The officials stressed the need for continuous monitoring of weather conditions, field-level reports, emergency complaints and relief operations to ensure a swift response to any developing situation. The Sub-Collector said two State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams had been kept ready to deal with emergencies, with one team each stationed in Araku Valley and Chintapalli.

People can contact the district-level emergency control room round the clock at landline number 08935-293448 or mobile number 9281856953. DRDA Project Director G Jayakrishna will supervise the functioning of the mandal-level control rooms.

Meanwhile, Joint Collector Tirumani Sri Pooja directed officials to take advance measures to prevent shortages of essential commodities in the district in view of Cyclone Arnab.

She instructed the authorities to ensure that all fair price ration shops remained open and accessible to the public. Officials were asked to monitor the functioning of ration shops, stock availability and distribution of essential commodities. The Joint Collector urged people to make use of the available ration shop services, remain alert to the evolving weather situation and follow the instructions issued by the authorities.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deekshitula Subrahmanyam

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Deekshitula RV Subrahmanyam is a Staff Reporter with The Hans India, covering the erstwhile East and West Godavari districts, along with Alluri Sitarama Raju and Polavaram districts. A journalist with experience of over three decades, he began his career as a Telugu mofussil reporter in 1991. He writes extensively on politics, tribal affairs, rural development, tourism, development, and human-interest stories He is the author of the six-part Telugu prose Ramayana Sitarama Kathasudha and has received several literary and journalistic honours, including the JCI Young Writer Award, Vadlamudi Rammohan Rao Memorial Award and Madduri Annapurnayya Memorial Award.

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