New Delhi:

Reach out to people, sensitise them, make sure they are evacuated in time and minimise the power outages, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told various agencies and officials on Sunday after a review meet to assess preparedness over developing Cyclone Yass, which is which is set to cross the Odisha and West Bengal coasts on May 26.

Senior government officials, representatives from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Secretaries from Telecom, Power, Civil Aviation, Earth Sciences Ministries were present at the meeting to review preparations against the approaching Cyclone Yaas.

Home Minister Amit Shah and other ministers also attended the meeting.

“PM Modi directed senior officers to work in close co-ordination with states to ensure safe evacuation of people from high-risk areas. He also instructed all concerned departments to ensure timely evacuation of those involved in off-shore activities. He spoke about the need to ensure that time duration of outages of power supply and communication network are minimum and are restored swiftly,” read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister, said his office, directed officials that advisories and instructions on do’s and dont’s during the cyclone be made available in easy to understand and local language to citizens of the affected districts.

His office said the Prime Minister spoke about the need to involve various stakeholders i.e. coastal communities, industries, etc by directly reaching out to them and sensitising them.

The NDRF has positioned 46 teams, out of which 13 teams are being airlifted today.

The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba on Saturday chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to review preparedness ahead of the cyclonic storm Yass.

Cyclone Yaas, the India Meterological Department said yesterday, is likely to intensify into a “very severe cyclonic storm” and cross the Odisha and West Bengal coasts on May 26.

As a measure of precaution, the Northern Railway has temporarily cancelled over a dozen trains from the national capital to and from Bhubaneswar and Puri in Odisha.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have also reviewed the preparedness for the cyclonic storm.

Earlier this week, Cyclone Tauktae, which made landfall in Gujarat on Monday night, also affected several other states along the west coast, including Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Soon after taking an aerial survey of Cyclone Tauktae-hit Gujarat, where 13 people were killed as the Cyclone ravaged parts of state, PM Modi announced an assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for immediate relief work.