Chennai, June 6:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay held a review meeting with senior officials on preparedness measures for the upcoming southwest monsoon, focusing on disaster prevention and rapid response systems.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister instructed officials that preventing loss of life during disaster situations must remain the top priority. He stressed the need for a fully prepared and responsive disaster management system across the state.
Key directions issued by the Chief Minister include ensuring that district emergency operation centres function round the clock, and that rescue equipment, first responders, and disaster response teams remain on standby at all times. He also called for pre-positioning of rescue personnel in vulnerable and high-risk areas.
He further directed that relief centres must be equipped with essential facilities such as electricity, drinking water, and food to ensure public safety and comfort during emergencies.
As part of long-term preparedness, he instructed officials to accelerate desilting of water bodies ahead of the northeast monsoon, along with the removal of water hyacinth and encroachments to improve drainage capacity.
The Chief Minister also directed the electricity department to immediately repair weak poles and transmission towers to prevent outages and accidents during heavy rains and storms.
Officials were asked to ensure coordinated action across departments to strengthen disaster response mechanisms and minimise damage during the monsoon season.