Government is trying to prevent casualties, provide quick relief: CM N Chandrababu Naidu

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh government is making efforts to prevent loss of life and aiming to provide quick relief to people affected by the very severe cyclonic storm 'Hudhud' that battered the coastal districts, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said here today.

The government is aimed at ensuring that no loss of life is caused by the cyclone 'Hudhud', but three persons were killed in rain-related incidents like trees falling on them, he told reporters.

Naidu also spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over phone on the situation arising out of the cyclone that caused landfall.

The Chief Minister is planning to go to Visakhapatnam, if possible, or at least till Rajahmundry in the neighbouring East Godavari district to oversee the relief operations.

The cyclone with gusty winds and downpour has caused damages to paddy, coconut and cashew-nut crops in the affected districts of Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts, he said.

Communication systems have been severely damaged in Visakhapatnam and the telecom operators have been told to restore the services as early as possible, he said.

Noting that the state government is leveraging modern technology like remote sensing to the maximum possible extent, he appealed to people as well to provide details of the damages by downloading an app on smartphones, to the government.

"We cannot prevent cyclones. We are trying to minimise its impact. We wanted to see that there is no loss of life. But certain incidents (like trees falling on people) are not in our hands," he said.