Cyclone Tauktae: NDRF doubles teams to 100 with 4,700 rescuers

The National Disaster Response Force has increased the number of teams from 53 to 100 to undertake relief and rescue measures in view of the impending Cyclone Tauktae, an official said on Saturday. Each NDRF team has a strength of a total 47 personnel and, hence, the total manpower identified for the task is 4,700 rescuers.

NDRF Director General S N Pradhan tweeted that these teams were being mobilised for deployment in the coastal regions of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra.

On Friday, he had said 53 teams were being committed for the cyclonic storm that was developing in the Arabian sea.


The deployment of the NDRF teams has been increased following new inputs by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pradhan said.

Out of the 100 teams, an NDRF spokesperson said, 48 are being pre-deployed or stationed on the ground in the six states, while 20 are on stand-by and kept on alert.

Thirty-two teams are being kept as backup or reserve and can be airlifted upon requirement from various bases of the central force in the country, the spokesperson said.

Each NDRF team is equipped with satellite phones, other communication gadgets, tree and pole cutters, inflatable boats, basic medical aid and other relief and rescue tools.

The spokesperson gave a breakup for the deployment of the pre-positioned 30 out of 48 teams.

In Gujarat, they are being stationed at Gir Somnath, Amreli, Porbandar, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Kutch, Morbi, Surat, Gandhinagar, Valsad, Bhavnagar, Navsari, Bharuch and Junagarh districts.

A total of nine teams are being deployed in Kerala, five in Tamil Nadu, four in Maharashtra, three in Karnataka and one in Goa, he said.

The members of these teams have been vaccinated against coronavirus, have personal protection suits and are equipped with the required tools, Pradhan said.

The spokesperson said they were "keeping a close watch over the developing situation and it is being monitored round-the-clock from the control room located at its headquarter in Delhi".

As per the IMD, he said in an update marked as issued at 6 pm, the depression over east-central and adjoining southeast Arabian sea has moved north-northwest and is very much likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm -- 'Tauktae' -- during the next three hours and very severe cyclonic storm during the subsequent 12 hours.

"It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Naliya around afternoon/evening of May 18," he said.

The spokesperson added that all efforts are being made "in close collaboration with state authorities to ensure zero casualty and minimum damage to life and property".