Ahmedabad/New Delhi: Authorities will start evacuating people from villages located within 10km from the coast in the Kutch-Saurashtra districts of Gujarat from Tuesday as powerful Cyclone 'Biparjoy' in the Arabian Sea appears set to hit the western state on June 15, the IMD said on Monday. Efforts are underway to mitigate the impact of the approaching cyclone, which is likely to make landfall near the Jakhau port in the Kutch district on Thursday afternoon with winds gusting up to 150 kilometres per hour, in the coastal districts through evacuation of people and suspension of activities in port areas, the officials said. 


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Around 7,500 people residing in low-lying areas near the coast have already been shifted to safer places in the state, they said. 


 


PM Reviews Situation


In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed officials to ensure the safe evacuation of people living in vulnerable locations in the path of the cyclone. The PM chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of the Centre as well as the Gujarat government to deal with the situation. 


Gujarat Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey told reporters in Ahmedabad that the state government was constantly working to ensure there was no loss of life. A dozen teams each of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the districts likely to be affected by the cyclone and arrangements made for accommodation, food and medicines of evacuated people, he said. 


Army, Navy & Coast Guard On Stand-By


Besides, the Army, the Navy and the Indian Coast Guard have been kept on stand-by with the ICG undertaking evacuation of 50 personnel from oil drilling ship 'Key Singapore' off the coast near Dwarka. Pandey said evacuation will be carried out in two phases beginning Tuesday with people residing 0 to 5 km from the seashore to be shifted first. Thereafter, people living within a distance of 5 to 10 km from the coast will be moved to safer places and priority will be given to children, pregnant women and the elderly, said the senior bureaucrat. 


The ICG said its regional headquarters has undertaken an operation to evacuate personnel from the oil drilling ship 'Key Singapore'. "The rig is 25 miles off Devbhumi Dwarka into an open sea amidst very rough sea conditions and inclement weather due to approaching extremely severe cyclone 'Biparjoy'. ICG has pressed into service its advanced light helicopter MK III for the rescue ops and 50 personnel are being evacuated to Okha," it said in a statement. 


Shipping activities at the country's largest public sector port at Kandla were shut following the cyclone warning and around 3,000 people, including workers there, were shifted to safer places, district administration officials said. 


Hundreds of trucks piled up due to the suspension of work at the Deendayal Port at Kandla in the Kutch district in view of the approaching cyclone and warning signal hoisted there, they said. "The port has been shut in view of signal 10 warning and all the boats, crafts and barges are tied up properly at the identified area and 24x7 control rooms set up. All workers and fishermen in low-lying areas have been evacuated," Deendayal Port Authority spokesperson Om Prakash Dadlani said. 


Thousands Moved To Safer Areas


Thousands of people residing in low-lying areas near the Arabian Sea coast have been shifted to safer places in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar, and preparations have been made to evacuate thousands more from Tuesday, the officials said. 


Around 7,500 people have been shifted to safer places. More than 3,000 people were evacuated from 31 villages in Porbandar, while in Devbhumi Dwarka, another 1,500 shifted to safer places, they said. "Some 3,000 people, especially fishermen and labourers working at a port, were shifted in Kandla. Residents of some slums near the sea have also been moved in Mandvi. Around 23,000 people residing in villages within a radius of 10 km from the coast will be moved to (makeshift) shelter homes from Tuesday," Kutch collector Amit Arora said. 


In its latest bulletin, the IMD said the cyclone moved north northwards with a speed of seven kmph and lay centered around 310 km southwest of Porbandar, 340 km south-southwest of Devbhumi Dwarka, 410 km south-southwest of Jakhau Port, 430 km south-southwest of Naliya and 580 km south of Karachi (Pakistan). 


"It is very likely to move nearly northwards till the 14th morning then move north-northeastwards and cross Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Kutch) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau port around noon of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph," the IMD said. 


Fishermen Warned Not To Venture Into Sea


Warning signals have been hoisted at ports and fishermen advised not to venture into the Arabian Sea. Fishermen out at the sea have been advised to return to the coast. The Centre has directed the state government to regulate onshore and offshore activities and mobilise evacuation from coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch districts, including Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh and Morbi. 


Heavy Rainfall Warning Issued


The IMD has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar on June 15. A few places in other districts of the Saurashtra region close to the coast will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall, it said. The IMD has said storm surge of about 2-3 metre above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas of some districts during the time of landfall, and wind speed may reach up to 190 kmph in the sea. 


The met department has warned of wind speed of up to 120-130 kmph gusting to 145 kmph from the morning of June 15 when the cyclone is expected to make landfall. Sea conditions are likely to remain rough to very rough till the evening of Wednesday, and high to phenomenal thereafter till the noon of June 15 before improving, it said. 


In view of the impending cyclone, the NDRF has deployed two additional teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure, an official said on Monday. The NDRF teams, in addition to three already deployed in the metropolis, have been stationed at Andheri and Kanjurmarg areas in the western and eastern suburbs, respectively, he said.