In a relief to incumbent Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu amidst his ongoing standoff with the Election Commission of India (ECI), the poll panel on Friday agreed to his demand to lift the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in four districts that are to be affected by Cyclone Fani. The four districts where the provisions of MCC are to be relaxed are Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam. This relaxation is in order to "facilitate speedy rescue, relief and restoration activities to successfully face the Cyclone Fani".
"The Commission has considered the matter and approved the proposal of granting relaxation in the provisions of MCC for all the preventive and relief work associated with the cyclone in the above-mentioned districts," a statement said.
Earlier, the Election Commission had barred the CM from holding review meetings about ongoing projects like Polavaram and construction of capital Amaravati.
Irked, Naidu had previously written a letter to the EC, threatening legal action. Naidu alleged that such restrictions were imposed only in case of Andhra Pradesh as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Ministers in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies continued to hold review meetings. In the nine-page letter to the EC, the TDP chief lashed out at the poll body saying it was intentionally paralysing the state administration.
On Friday morning, Fani, with wind speeds touching nearly 200 kmph, made landfall on the eastern coast of Odisha. It triggered heavy rains in parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, while gusty winds uprooted trees and electricity poles.
About 20,000 people were shifted to 126 relief camps in Srikakulam district, where seven mandals are likely to be affected by the cyclone. A red alert was sounded in the district with authorities taking preventive measures to avoid loss of life and minimise property damages.
Nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were deployed in the district.
According to Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) officials in Amaravati, Srikakulam's Kanchili mandal received the highest rainfall of 19 cm since Thursday.
The heavy rains could also cause Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers to overflow leading to floods in the region, officials said. Heavy rainfall has been reported in Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam, two other districts in the north coastal Andhra, since Thursday.
The Indian Railways have cancelled about 100 trains between Visakhapatnam and Howrah on Friday and Saturday. Authorities have also cancelled 22 flights from Visakhapatnam airport.
IANS inputs