Shillong, Aug 26: Thunderstorms and strong winds will now be treated as state or local disasters in Meghalaya.
The amendment was made by the disaster management department to address confusion in declaring damages caused by strong winds, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said while informing about a cabinet decision on Wednesday.
“Earlier, the cyclone was notified as a state disaster but we are increasingly seeing damages caused by strong winds which are not of cyclone intensity. This creates confusion for officials who have to declare it as cyclone, though it falls under strong winds category but is enough to cause damage. To bring clarity, we have included thunderstorms and strong winds in the list,” Sangma said after the cabinet meeting.
