Two days before powerful cyclone Biparjoy was expected to make landfall near Jakhau port in Gujarat’s Kutch district, authorities moved 30,000 people from coastal areas to temporary shelters.
An authority said a few NDRF and SDRF teams are on backup. Civil administration and the National Disaster Response Force have jointly planned relief operations with Army authorities.
Flood relief columns have been prepared by the Army in strategic locations.
Amit Shah holds virtual meet
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked the Gujarat government to ensure that all necessary services, including electricity, telecommunication, health care, and drinking water, would be provided during a virtual meeting to assess the state of cyclone preparedness.
Bhupendra Patel, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, two Union ministers, a number of Gujarat ministers and MPs, MLAs, and representatives from eight districts that are likely to be impacted by the cyclone attended the meeting.
“We have already started evacuating people residing near the coast who are likely to be affected the most during the landfall. So far, various district administrations have shifted nearly 30,000 people to temporary shelters,” said State Commissioner of Relief, Alok Kumar Pandey.
The state government is intending to empty individuals within 10 km of the coast, he said, adding that so far one fatality related to the cyclone has been recorded.
Biparjoy likely to cross Saurashtra and Kutch near Jakhau port between Mandvi and Karachi
According to the director of the Ahmedabad IMD, Manorama Mohanty, the cyclone is likely to cross between Mandvi in Kutch and Karachi in Pakistan near the Jakhau port on June 15 with winds of 125-135 kmph and 150 kmph.
“A warning has been issued for extremely heavy rainfall accompanied by strong winds in coastal parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region, especially in the districts of Kutch, Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka,” she said.
“After it makes landfall and weakens, the movement of the cyclone is likely to remain north-eastward and it is expected to move towards extreme south Rajasthan.
It will bring heavy to very heavy rain in north Gujarat till June 15-17,” Mohanty said.
Since the sea became extremely rough and the approaching cyclone caused extremely heavy rainfall and strong winds in the region, fishing has been suspended until June 16, when ships are anchored and ports are closed.
“The sea will remain very rough to high till Jun 14, increasing to high to phenomenal on June 15,” Mohanty said.
According to Pandey, the government is constantly working to prevent fatalities caused by the weather.
He stated that the rescue operation is being carried out in two phases, with the first phase consisting of moving people who live between 0 and 5 km from the seashore.
After that, people between 5 and 10 kilometers from the coast will be relocated to safer areas, with children, pregnant women, and the elderly receiving priority.
The government stated that the affected districts of Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Morbi, and Valsad have 12 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams and 17 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams on standby.
