Cyclone Vayu: Guj on alert, people from coast to be evacuated

As per the latest weather report, the cyclonic storm 'Vayu' is located around 650 km south of Veraval coast in Gujarat and is "very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm" in next 12 hours and hit the state coast on June 13.

Gujarat: With cyclone 'Vayu' scheduled to hit Veraval coast of Gujarat on Thursday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday confirmed that the state administration has issued high alert along with the coastline areas, starting from Kutch to south Gujarat and will evacuate the people living along the coastal belt to safer places.

"People living in the coastal belt would be shifted to safer places and the entire coastline, starting from Kutch to south Gujarat, has been put on high alert," said Rupani while addressing the media in Gandhinagar.

As per the latest weather report, the cyclonic storm 'Vayu' is located around 650 km south of Veraval coast and is "very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm" in next 12 hours and hit the state coast on June 13.

Taking inspiration from Odisha, which has been praised for their preparedness while dealing with the severe cyclonic storm 'Fani' that hit the coastal state on May 5, Rupani said, "the state officials have been in touch with the Odisha government to learn and implement the disaster management techniques adopted by them when cyclone Fani hit the eastern coastal state recently."

"We have cancelled leaves of all the employees concerned and asked them to join the duty. After the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, all the ministers will go to various districts to oversee relief and rescue operations," he added.

Further elaborating on the state's preparedness to deal with 'Vayu', Rupani said, "June 13 and 14 are crucial for us. We have roped-in the Army, NDRF, Coast Guard and other agencies for rescue and relief work. To minimise human casualty, we will start shifting people living in coastal areas to safer locations from tomorrow."

Gujarat ports and transport department's principal secretary Sunaina Tomar said a disaster management plan has been put in place at all ports of the state.

"We have installed power generators at all the ports. Cargo and Ro-Ro ferry operations have been halted. Leaves of port and transport employees have been cancelled," said Tomar.

Jayanta Sarkar, the director of the State meteorological centre said the cyclonic storm is very likely to move northwards and cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva, that is near Veraval, as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of around 120 mph. It may go up to 135 kmph during the early morning of June 13.

Fishermen who ventured into the sea have been called back, he said.

The cyclone would leave its impact on the coastal districts, including Kutch, Bhavnagar, Gir-Somnath, Porbandar, Amreli and Junagadh, he added.

"It would also bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the region. Rain would also occur in some pockets of south Gujarat. The cyclone's effect will prevail over Gujarat on June 12, 13 and 14," he added.