Modi holds meetings on heat, cyclone relief

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a series of meetings with top government officials to review preparedness and actions being taken to mitigate the severity of extreme weather conditions.

The meetings were held days after severe cyclone Remal pummeled West Bengal, leaving scores dead, and amid an ongoing heatwave that has led to nearly 200 deaths across the country within the last week.

The PM in a post on X said, “Chaired meetings to review the situation in the wake of heatwaves and post cyclone flood situations in different parts of the nation. Took stock of the efforts underway to assist those affected by these adversarial conditions.”

In the meeting to review the cyclone aftermath, a statement from his office said, Modi was briefed about its impact in the affected states. “The loss of human lives and damage to houses and properties due to landslides and floods in Mizoram, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura was also discussed,” the statement said.

Given the scale of impact, NDRF teams have been deployed as per the requirement of the states. As part of rescue and relief operations, teams have been deployed to carry out evacuation, airlifting and road clearance operations. For seamless relief and rescue operations, the ministry of home affairs is in regular touch with the state governments, the PM was informed.

Incessant rain and landslides have disrupted life in several parts of the northeast, affecting air and rail services and flooding arterial roads and highways. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has cancelled express, passenger, and goods trains bound for south Assam, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram following the inundation of railway tracks throughout the region.

PM Modi said the Union government will continue to extend full support to the states affected by the cyclone, according to the statement.

Cyclone Remal commenced landfall at night on May 26 over coastal areas of West Bengal and Bangladesh with peak winds of 110-120kmph gusting to 135kmph. Storm surge of about 1 metre above astronomical tide had inundated low lying areas of coastal West Bengal and 3-4m height above astronomical tide inundated low-lying areas of coastal Bangladesh around the time of landfall.

The PM also instructed MHA to monitor the situation and review the matter regularly to extend necessary assistance for restoration, his office said.

On Saturday, the PM announced ex gratia for those who lost their lives. In a post on X, he said, “An ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased due to the natural disasters in the aftermath of Cyclone Remal in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and West Bengal. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000 each.”

In Mizoram, where the floods have inflicted heavy casualties, the state government has sought financial aid to recover from the devastation caused by heavy rains and landslides in the state.

Sunday’s meetings, which come days ahead of the results for the Lok Sabha polls that concluded on Saturday, also took stock of the intense heatwave. Officials present at the meetings were the principal secretary to PM, PK Mishra; cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba; home secretary Ajay Bhalla; along with secretary, ministry of earth sciences, DG NDRF and member secretary, NDMA, among others.

In the meeting to review the heatwave conditions, Modi instructed officials that proper drills for preventing and handling incidents of fire must be undertaken on a regular basis, according to another statement.

There has been alarm, with temperatures soaring to nearly 50°C in some parts of the country.

The PM was briefed that the IMD forecasts indicate that the heat wave is likely to continue in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, although the monsoon is likely to be normal and above normal in most parts of the country and below normal in parts of Peninsular India.

“The Prime Minister has instructed that proper drills for preventing and handling incidents of fire must be done on a regular basis. Fire audit and electrical safety audit of hospitals and other public places must be undertaken regularly. He also said that regular drills for the maintenance of fire-line in forests and productive utilization of the biomass must be planned,” the PMO statement said.

According to IMD, there were two intense spells of humid heat in April — between April 5 and 7 over east and southeast Peninsular India; and April 15 and 30 over Odisha and West Bengal that expanded to Bihar, Jharkhand and South Peninsular India.

There were two more intense heat spells in May — between May 1 and 7 over Odisha, Gangetic WB and parts of Peninsular India.

The second spell according to IMD was between May 16 and 26 with 9-12 heatwave to severe heatwave days over Rajasthan with temperatures nearing 50°C; 5 to 7 heat wave days over Delhi NCR; south Haryana; Southwest UP and Punjab region with maximum temperatures reaching 44-48°C. Normally 4 to 8 days of heat wave are expected during summer months of March, April and May.

Officials present for the meeting are learnt to have briefed the PM about the efficacy of the “van agni” portal which helps in the timely identification of forest fires and its management.

A day after exit polls predicted a massive win for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with Modi set to retain power for a third straight term, the PM held another meeting to review the 100-day agenda of the government in after the Lok Sabha results are announced on June 4.