Before Biparjoy makes ashore close to Jakhau port, the Gujarat government relocates residents from 120 Kutch villages

In preparation for Cyclone “Biparjoy,” which is predicted to make landfall near Jakhau port as a “very severe cyclonic storm” with maximum wind speeds reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour, the Gujarat government has evacuated residents from nearly 120 villages in the Kutch district that are between zero and 10 kilometres from the sea.

74,000 people who live in susceptible locations have been evacuated as a result of Cyclone Biparjoy, which is less than 200 kilometres off the Gujarat coast and is expected to make landfall Thursday evening accompanied with torrential rain and a storm surge, according to authorities.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), isolated areas in the Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Jamnagar districts are anticipated to see exceptionally heavy rainfall as the strong weather system reaches the shore.

At 02:30 IST on June 15, 2023, VSCS Biparjoy was over the Northeast Arabian Sea, roughly 200 km west-southwest of Jakhau Port (Gujarat). IMD’s most recent cyclone advisory said that the storm will “cross Saurashtra & Kutch and adjacent Pakistan coasts between Mandvi and Karachi near Jakhau Port by evening of June 15th as a VSVS.”

Rushikesh Patel, the Gujarati government’s minister of health, said that 48 villages in the Kutch area are between 5 km and 10 km from the seashore, while another 72 villages are between 0 and 5 km away.

The minister said, “We have evacuated over 40,000 people from these coastal settlements.

According to the government, 74,345 people have so far been relocated to makeshift shelters in eight coastal districts including Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Devbhumi Dwarka, Junagadh, Porbandar, and Gir Somnath.

According to the government, 397 teams from the state power department and 115 teams from the state road and construction department have been deployed in various coastal areas, along with 15 teams from the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and 12 teams from the SDRF (State Disaster Response Force).

In addition to the local government and police, four NDRF teams, five SDRF teams, the Army, the Coast Guard, and the BSF (Border Security Force) are on standby for rescue and relief efforts after the hurricane, he added.

“Elaborate arrangements have been made by us for post-cyclone work like restoration of electricity infrastructure, mobile networks, and other infrastructure,” the official added.

According to a formal announcement, the well-known Dwarkadhish and Somnath temples in Devbhumi Dwarka and Gir Somnath districts will be closed to worshippers and guests on Thursday.

Low-lying portions of the districts that are expected to be impacted by the landing are likely to be flooded by a storm surge that is between two and three metres above the astronomical tide. The IMD has warned that the tides in certain locations might surge by up to 3-6 metres.

Following ‘Tauktae’ in May 2021, this will be the state’s second hurricane in two years.

According to the Western Railway, 76 trains have been cancelled, 36 have been terminated early, and 31 have started late as a precaution to guarantee the safety of passengers and train operations.