Ahmedabad: Ahead of the expected landfall of powerful cyclone 'Biparjoy' near Jakhau port in Gujarat's Kutch district, authorities have evacuated around 50,000 people so far from coastal areas to temporary shelters in the western state.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall on Thursday evening as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. On Wednesday, the IMD upgraded the alert from 'orange' to 'red' as it issued the cyclone warning afresh for Saurashtra and Kutch Coasts.
Heavy rains precede landfall
Several districts of Gujarat were drenched as heavy rainfall preceded the cyclone's landfall. In the 24 hours ending Wednesday morning, Khambhaliya taluka of Devbhumi Dwarka district received the highest 121 mm of rainfall, followed by Dwarka (92 mm) and Kalyanpur (70 mm) during this period, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said in a release.
More than nine talukas in Jamnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot, Porbandar and Kutch districts received more than 50 mm of rainfall in the same period, it said. According to SEOC, 54 talukas across the districts of Saurashtra and Kutch received more than 10 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
"The cyclone is nearly 290 km away from Kutch at present. As a precautionary measure, we have already shifted nearly 50,000 people living in coastal areas to temporary shelters. The evacuation process is still on and the remaining 5,000 persons will be shifted by this evening to safer places" said State Commissioner of Relief, Alok Kumar Pandey.
Of the 50,000-odd evacuees, nearly 18,000 people were shifted to shelters in Kutch district while others were evacuated from Junagadh, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Morbi and Rajkot, Pandey told reporters in Gandhinagar. He said 15 teams of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), 12 teams of SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), 115 teams of state road and building department, and 397 teams of the state electricity department have been deployed in different coastal districts.
"Officials of departments of Electricity and Road & Building have also reached designated spots to restore connectivity and power supply. We have also deployed teams carrying HAM Radio sets and satellite phones in the coastal region for better communication," said Pandey. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel visited the state government's emergency operations centre on Tuesday night for a review of the preparedness.
Health Minister inspects hospitals
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya inspected hospitals in Kutch, Gujarat and sought information on oxygen, ventilators and critical care beds that are available. He also reviewed the preparations made to ensure health facilities that might be needed post-cyclone.
Defence Minister speaks to Service Chiefs
Defence Minsiter Rajnath Singh Wednesday said that he has spoken to all three Service Chiefs and reviewed the preparedness of the Armed Forces for the landfall of cyclone ‘Biparjoy’. "The Armed Forces are ready to provide every possible assistance to civil authorities in tackling any situation or contingency due to the cyclone," Rajnath said.
Latest IMD bulletin
The IMD said in its latest bulletin that the intensity of rainfall would increase as the cyclone approaches the Gujarat coast on June 15, with isolated places in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar likely to witness extremely heavy rains.
Cyclone Biparjoy is very likely to cross Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau port (Gujarat) by the evening of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph, it said.
Due to this, a few places in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi, Junagadh and the remaining districts of Saurashtra and North Gujarat region are also likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday. The IMD has also forecast light to moderate rainfall with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over north Gujarat districts and adjoining south Rajasthan on Friday.
Wind speeds will reach 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph along and off the coasts of the districts of Porbandar and Devbhoomi Dwarka from Wednesday forenoon, the IMD said. They will gradually increase to 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph on Thursday along and off the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh and Morbi.
Sea condition is likely to be very rough till the evening of Wednesday along Saurashtra and Kutch coasts and high to phenomenal till the evening of Thursday before becoming normal, the IMD said. A storm surge of about 2-3 m above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas of the affected districts during the time of landfall. The tides could be up to 3-6 meters in different places, the Met department said.
All fishing activities suspended
Following the meteorological predictions, fishing activities have been suspended until June 16, and ports remain closed, with ships anchored due to the rough sea conditions and inclement weather caused by the approaching cyclone.
Pandey assured the public that the government is actively working to prevent any loss of life due to this severe weather event. The rescue operation is being carried out in two phases, with residents within 0 to 5 kilometres of the seashore being relocated first. Subsequently, individuals residing within a distance of 5 to 10 kilometres of the coast will be moved to safer areas, with priority given to children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
To aid in the relief efforts, 17 teams of the NDRF and 12 teams of the SDRF have been deployed in the affected districts of Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Morbi, and Valsad.
The Western Railway has taken precautionary measures, including canceling 69 trains and short-terminating 33 trains while short-originating 27 trains, to ensure the safety of passengers and maintain operational efficiency.
Read: Cyclone Biparjoy: Pakistani authorities begin evacuation of low-lying coastal areas in Sindh
