50,000 evacuated as Gujarat braces for Cyclone Biparjoy landfall today

New Delhi, June 14

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As powerful Cyclone Biparjoy approaches the Gujarat coast, the authorities have evacuated 50,000 people from vulnerable areas in a massive operation and deployed disaster management personnel for relief and rescue measures in the state set to be most impacted by the second storm to hit it in just two years, officials said on Wednesday.

‘Armed forces prepared to tackle any situation’

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the three service chiefs and reviewed the preparations of the armed forces to deal with the impact of the cyclone. After reviewing the preparations, Rajnath said the armed forces were ready to provide every possible assistance to the civil authorities in tackling any situation or contingency that might arise due to the cyclone.

With the cyclone, expected to make landfall near the Jakhau port in Kutch district on Thursday evening, barrelling towards the Gujarat coast, parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region received heavy rains accompanied by strong winds. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took stock of the situation with senior officers, while at the central level, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh separately reviewed the preparedness to deal with the impact of the cyclone.

Akashvani dismantles 90-m tower in Dwarka

New Delhi: Akashvani on Wednesday said it had dismantled a 90-metre high-transmission tower supported by a guy rope at Gujarat’s Dwarka as the cyclone approaches the state. “This has been done to prevent any mishap and minimise the damage to life and property in the surrounding areas,” an official statement said. PTI

Nine talukas in Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar and Rajkot districts received more than 50 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending on Wednesday morning. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said damage was likely in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagarh and Rajkot districts on Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Biparjoy was set to change the path on Wednesday and begin moving north-eastwards towards Kutch and Saurashtra but it would still have landfall as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speed ranging from 125-135 kmph, gusting to 145 kmph from morning to evening on Thursday.

The Gujarat Government has undertaken a massive exercise to evacuate people living in villages within a 10-km radius of the coast, with a special focus on Kutch, which is likely to be worst affected by the cyclone, and move them to temporary shelters.

Alok Kumar Pandey, State Commissioner of Relief, said 18 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 12 teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), 115 of state road and building department, and 397 teams of the state electricity department had been deployed in different coastal districts.