Amaravati, 2 November (H.S.): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday reviewed preparations to deal with Cyclone Murasu, which is approaching the state's coast, and directed officials to ensure effective management of rainfall, possible flood inflows and damage to power infrastructure.

Naidu held a review of the situation through the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS), interacting with officials and district Collectors to assess field-level preparedness. Officials informed him that moderate to heavy rainfall was likely across South Coastal Andhra, other downstream districts and parts of Rayalaseema.

They also cautioned about possible flooding due to inflows into the Nagarjunasagar and Pulichintala projects, with water flows estimated at 30-50 TMC. Naidu directed officials to manage available water efficiently and ensure that tanks and reservoirs in the affected regions were filled wherever possible.

The Chief Minister specifically instructed officials to focus on water management in Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Prakasam, Nellore and Markapuram districts, as well as reservoirs in the South Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema basins.

Officials said the impact of Murasu was expected to be less severe than that of Cyclone Arnab. They informed the Chief Minister that around 31,000 electricity poles had been moved to the field level from Srikakulam to Krishna district following the earlier cyclone. However, strong winds associated with Murasu could affect up to 8,000 electricity poles in South Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts.

Naidu said field-level machinery was ready to deal with the impact of the approaching storm. He stressed the need for coordinated action by officials to minimise damage and respond promptly to any emergency.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar