Cyclone: Navy Put on Alert, May Defer Demo at RK Beach

Visakhapatnam: The Eastern Naval Command might defer the Operation Demonstration scheduled on Dec 4 as part of the Navy Day annual event due to the impending cyclone Michuang.

The cyclonic storm is likely to form on December 4 and cause heavy rains and gale winds.

A release from the Eastern Naval Command on Friday said the Navy was closely monitoring the low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm ‘Michaung’ and cross the eastern coast between North Tamil Nadu and south AP around December 4 evening.

The Eastern Naval Command has put all personnel and platforms on a high state of readiness and is fully prepared to undertake any humanitarian relief and disaster relief operations, if a need arises, it said.

All naval area commanders have carried out preparatory activities to mitigate the effects of the cyclone and are in constant liaison with the state administrations to render assistance.

Considering the safety aspects of the large number of spectators,  Naval assets and personnel involved in the complex naval demonstrations, a few activities like Op Demo and the ENC chief’s  At- Home here may be rescheduled, based on weather conditions.

As part of the preparedness, flood relief teams and diving teams have been kept as standby to augment the existing resources. Indian Naval ships are on standby with humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) bricks, diving teams, medical personnel to render assistance in the affected areas along the east coast. Naval aircraft have also been kept ready at naval air stations, INS Dega at  Visakhapatnam and INS Rajali near Chennai to undertake aerial survey, casualty evacuation, and airdrop of relief material.