VIJAYAWADA: A seven-member Central Government assessment team led by Chittaranjan Dash, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, visited the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) Centre at the Secretariat on Saturday to assess the damage caused by Cyclone Arnab.
RTGS Secretary Katamneni Bhaskar and RTGS CEO Prakhar Jain welcomed the team. RTGS officials explained the damage caused by the cyclone and the precautionary measures undertaken by the State government through a PowerPoint presentation.
Officials said the public had been alerted about Cyclone Arnab six days in advance through RTGS and the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA). Cyclone-related alerts were sent to 7.23 crore mobile users. During the cyclone’s landfall, authorities prevented people from leaving their homes and stopped vehicular movement on roads, helping minimise loss of life. RTGS monitored the situation to ensure coordination among various departments.
Various departments established 3,455 control rooms at district and mandal levels and appointed 3,918 nodal officers to undertake relief measures. Authorities set up 2,199 cyclone shelters across 20 districts and shifted 34,716 people to them. The government deployed 16 NDRF and 11 SDRF teams across 14 districts and kept 1,355 ambulances ready for emergency medical services. As a precaution, authorities shifted 3,012 pregnant women to hospitals.
During the cyclone, the government enabled people to report problems and seek emergency assistance through Mana Mitra WhatsApp Governance. Officials resolved grievances as they came in, addressing more than 95 per cent of the cyclone-related complaints. They also prevented fishermen from venturing into the sea and kept 30,043 fishing boats within harbours.
Officials informed the Central team that the preliminary assessment put the damage caused by Cyclone Arnab in the State at Rs 4,764 crore. The cyclone damaged crops belonging to 4.63 lakh farmers across 3.52 lakh hectares and horticultural crops across 23,383 hectares.
It also damaged 2,491 km of State roads and affected 7,382 houses. Twelve districts reported cyclone damage, with Konaseema and West Godavari among the worst affected. The power sector also suffered extensive damage.
The Central team appreciated the government’s use of Mana Mitra WhatsApp Governance to receive and resolve public grievances in cyclone-affected areas. It described the initiative as an excellent model that would help people communicate their problems easily and said it would recommend that the Central Government encourage all states to establish similar facilities.
Dash said the team would make efforts to ensure that Andhra Pradesh received adequate assistance from the Centre. He added that it would recommend immediate assistance to help the State recover from the disaster.
“Mana Mitra WhatsApp Governance is an innovative idea. Today, even people who cannot read or write are able to use WhatsApp easily. The idea of receiving grievances from the public through WhatsApp during disasters like cyclones and addressing them from time to time is excellent. The way RTGS resolved these grievances promptly is also commendable. This is a very good initiative. All states need to follow this approach. We will submit a recommendation to the Central Government to ensure that all states adopt this system,” said Chittaranjan Dash.