Cyclone Alert: Cyclone Biparjoy intensified; Evacuation started in Gujarat

1) Union Home Minister Amit Shah this morning chaired a meeting of disaster management ministers of states and Union Territories.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday held a high-level review meeting on Cyclone Biparjoy and directed officials to take every possible measure to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated.

2) PM Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel spoke over phone last evening and enquired about the status of the cyclone.

He sought to know about the state’s preparedness and assured all possible help, Mr Patel said.

3) The weather office today said the cyclone will have “extreme damaging potential” and the wind speed will likely be around 150 kmph when it makes landfall on Thursday.

4) Authorities today began evacuating people from villages within 10-km from the coast in Kutch and Saurashtra districts of Gujarat, officials said.

Till now, 8,000 people have been evacuated and moved to safer locations in Kutch, said Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

5) A cyclone alert has already been issued in the two districts. “Sea conditions along and off Saurashtra and Kutch coasts will likely remain rough to very rough” till Wednesday, and very rough to high on Thursday.

Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Gir Somnath, Porbandar, and Devbhumi Dwarka districts are likely to be impacted by the cyclone with heavy rainfall and very high wind speed during June 13-15 which may go up to 150 kmph,” the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

6) A dozen teams each of the national and state disaster forces have been deployed and arrangements made for shelter, food and medicines of those evacuated,

said Gujarat Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey. Besides, the Army and Navy are on standby and Indian Coast Guard ships are patrolling off the coast.

7) A boy died due to drowning near Mumbai’s Juhu beach yesterday while two others have been rescued. Two more boys are missing and a search is on.

Mumbai witnessed rough seas yesterday with violent waves seen at several of its beaches due to the impending cyclone.

8) The IMD has advised fishermen not to venture into the seas off the coast of Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep.

In accordance with international maritime law, ports are also required to hoist signals to alert vessels of impending adverse weather conditions.

9) The North Western Railway has cancelled some trains as the cyclone is expected to enter southwest Rajasthan on Friday, officials said.

Besides, Western Railway yesterday short-terminated over 50 trains heading towards coastal areas in Gujarat and is considering the cancellation of several trains over the next three days.

Railways has activated a disaster management room and opened emergency control rooms in several districts of Gujarat to ensure smooth rail functioning.

10) The cyclone was named ‘Biparjoy’ by Bangladesh, meaning “calamity” in Bengali. According to the IMD website, the name was adopted by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) countries in 2020.