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Updated: May 07, 2020 14:54 IST

The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) on Monday to took stock of the situation arising out of Cyclone Fani and assured the state governments that central assistance for state disaster relief funds will be released soon.

The NCMC meeting, headed by cabinet secretary Pradip Kumar Sinha met, was called on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is closely monitoring the situation and have asked the committee to “ensure all preparations” to deal with any situation, said a statement released by cabinet secretariat.

The cyclone is expected to impact east coast states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

Watch | Cyclone Fani likely to hit Odisha on Friday; NDRF, rescue teams kept ready

The statement said chief secretaries of all the concerned state governments confirmed their full preparedness to deal with any emerging situation arising out of the cyclonic storm and informed that the fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea up to June 14 due to annual breeding season. “State governments were advised to effectively enforce this ban,” it said.

According to India Meteorological Department forecast, Fani is at present 880 kms southeast of Chennai. It is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday.

It will move northwest till Wednesday and then move northeastwards gradually and hit West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Fani is expected to make landfall in Odisha on Wednesday.

Odisha chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi, who attended a meeting on Monday, said all district collectors have been alerted and all shelters have been readied to tackle the situation. He also said leave of all officials have been cancelled in wake of the cyclonic threat. Heavy rainfall is expected in Odisha on Thursday.

Meanwhile, chief electoral officers in these coastal states have directed district magistrates to ensure protection for Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) store rooms. Odisha chief electoral officer Surendra Kumar said the EC has directed all eastern coastal states to procure polythene to cover EVMs in the storerooms.

The cabinet secretariat also said National Disaster Relief Fund and Indian Coast Guard have been put on high alert and IMD was issuing bulletins every three hours with latest forecast to all the four state governments.

The committee also reviewed that the situation arising out of the deficient pre-monsoon rainfall and heatwave in southern and western states, which is also facing water deficiency between 40% to 84%, as per estimated by Central Water Commission. The states were asked to ensure proper drinking water supply to villages hit by the heatwave.