Cyclone Biparjoy to Reach Gujarat on June 15; 30,000 People Shifted to Safety

As Cyclone Biparjoy approaches the coast of Gujarat, nearly 30,000 people from coastal areas of the state have been shifted to temporary shelters.

Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah held a video meeting on Tuesday to review preparations for Cyclone Pebarjoy. The meeting was attended by Bhupendra Patil, Chief Minister of Gujarat, two Union ministers, a number of Gujarat ministers and MPs, and officials from eight districts likely to be affected by the cyclone.

Cyclone Pebarjoy, a “very severe cyclonic storm”, is expected to cross the coast of Gujarat on June 15.

Shah asked the government of Gujarat to make arrangements to relocate people living in sensitive places to safer areas and to ensure all necessary services, such as electricity, communication, health and drinking water.

An official said several NDRF and SDRF teams are on standby. At the same time, the army authorities jointly planned relief operations with the Civil Administration and the National Disaster Response Force. The army kept flood relief columns ready at strategic locations.

Here are the latest updates on Cyclone Biparjoy:

• The union’s home minister said our aim is to ensure “no casualties” and minimize potential damage caused by Cyclonic Storm “Pepargui”. He said there was a need to act quickly on the important directives given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a review meeting chaired on June 12.
• Manorama Mohanty, director of IMD in Ahmedabad, said the cyclone is likely to cross between Mandvi in ​​Kutch and Karachi in Pakistan near the port of Jaco with wind speeds of 125 to 135 kilometers per hour reaching 150 kilometers per hour on the evening of June 15.
• The director of IMD in Ahmedabad said that a warning has been issued of very heavy rains accompanied by strong winds in coastal parts of Saurashtra-Kutch region, especially in Kutch, Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts, adding that it will lead to heavy to very severe weather. Rain in northern Gujarat until 15-17 June after landfall.
• State Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said the state government aims to evacuate people within 10 km from the coast, adding that so far one cyclone-related death has been recorded.
• Fishing activities were suspended until 16 June, ports and docking were closed as the sea became very rough and the weather became stormy with very heavy rains and strong winds in the area due to an approaching cyclone.
• The government said that 17 teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are on standby in the affected districts of Devbhumi Dwarka, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Valsad.
• Western Railway has so far canceled 69 trains and has decided to cancel 32 short-distance and 26 short-distance trains as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers as well as train operations.
• CM Bhupendra Patel appealed to the citizens to cooperate with the administration for their safety and security. He said in a virtual message that the government had planned rescue, relief and rehabilitation operations without causing casualties and appealed to citizens to follow the administration’s instructions.
• Union Energy Minister RK Singh has held a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Power, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Grid Controller of India and PGCIL to review preparations for the maintenance of power supplies in coastal areas of Gujarat and Rajasthan that are likely to be affected by Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’.
• Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia reviewed the preparatory measures being taken by the center and the Gujarat administration in light of Cyclone Bebarjoy with his state counterpart Ruchikesh Ganeshbhai Patil in Bhuj on Tuesday.
  (with PTI input)