Ahmedabad/Gandhinagar: Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday said the coastal state scored a point by weathering Cyclone Biparjoy, which was predicted to bring colossal damage usual for a cyclone of such magnitude.
Biparjoy, which became one of the longest-lived cyclones ever recorded in the Arabian Sea at over nine days, made landfall on Thursday unleashing fury and tearing through coastal districts. A well-orchestrated rescue management system, personally marshalled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ensured zero casualties which is a rarity in the case of a cyclone of such a magnitude. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that the state administration was fully alert and prepared a well-thought-out plan for this cyclone in advance.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Gujarat on Saturday to conduct an aerial inspection of the coastal areas of Kutch and Saurashtra. He will also be joined by CM Patel. "A colossal damage and loss of lives were averted due to swift planning. Due to the water-tight preparations and timely action of the state government, we have come out of this natural calamity unscathed," Patel said.
Cyclone Biparjoy's landfall process started at Jakhau port in the Kutch district at 6.30 pm on June 15 and continued till 12.30 pm. Kutch suffered severe damage in the cyclone. After the cyclone crossed over Kutch in Gujarat, it unleashed heavy rain with wind speeds gusting up to 140 kmph. All schools, colleges, market yards, industries, and businesses were closed due to the impending storm. Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey said that the electricity supply was affected in 4,629 villages due to the storm. Electricity has been restored in 3,580 villages so far. And 1000 rural areas are still without electricity, which will be restored soon. The power poles which have fallen are also being restored by PGVCL. As many as 71 cattle deaths have been reported in the Kutch district, the statistics of other districts are not yet available, but survey work is going on for that.
As many as 3,275 trees were uprooted in Kutch due to strong winds. As many as three roads have been closed due to fallen trees, and one of these three roads is closed due to the presence of trees on the road. While two other roads have been closed due to damage. All these three roads belong to the Kutch district. Trees are being cut by NDRF teams to make roads motorable due to fallen trees. Also, in Rajkot district, 25 teams of the forest department have carried out operations to remove more than 70 trees from the road due to the storm.
According to Meteorological Department Director Manorama Mohanty, the cyclone is currently moving towards Rajasthan from Kutch district. It will move towards North Gujarat and rain is predicted in Banaskantha, Patan on July 16 and 17. At present, this storm has moved towards Pakistan-Rajasthan through Kutch towards North Gujarat.
More than one lakh people from eight affected districts of Gujarat including Gir Somnath, Kutch, Junagadh, Rajkot, Morbi, Dwarka, Rajkot and Jamnagar, living within 10 km from the coast, were swiftly evacuated. Continuous evacuation-rescue operations were continued to avert the loss of lives and destruction of properties. As a part of rescue efforts, 1,152 out of a total of 1,171 pregnant women in the eight districts affected by the cyclone were evacuated to a safe place in advance. A total of 707 women successfully delivered in shelter homes.
The state forest department had deployed 237 teams in the potentially affected districts to remove trees uprooted by strong winds. These teams have removed a total of 581 uprooted trees from the roads since the onset of storms in the state.
As many as 4,317 hoardings were removed from eight districts likely to be affected as a precautionary measure to avoid loss of life and property in the event of heavy rain and wind due to the cyclone. Apart from this, work is being done to restore affected electricity poles, damaged roads, power cut areas and damaged houses.
Under the Power Department, PGVCL deployed 1,127 teams in a total of 3,751 villages in eight districts, while GETCO deployed 51 teams in a total of 714 substations. A total of 889 teams were kept on standby by PGVCL in the districts surrounding the potentially affected district, while a total of 81 teams were kept on standby by GETCO in the surrounding districts.
The State Roads and Buildings Department had kept 132 teams ready with the necessary equipment in the potentially affected districts. With 328 JCB machines, 276 dumpers, 204 tractors, 60 loaders and 234 other equipment, these teams are carrying out repair work on the affected roads. Besides, 1137 trees have been removed from 263 roads in the affected districts so far.
Preparations and measures
• The Chief Minister held an urgent review meeting with top state officials at the State Emergency Operation Center in Gandhinagar regarding the cyclone and ordered the administration of all districts to be on standby. Also reviewed micro-planning arrangements including evacuation of people from various districts to safe places.
• More than 1 lakh 8 thousand people were evacuated to safe places, including 10,918 children, 5070 elderly, and 1152 pregnant women.
• 50 people stranded in the middle of the storm were airlifted by the Indian Coast Guard. In Dwarka, the Coast Guard rescued 50 people from the sea. All were brought to the Okha Operations Center of the Indian Coast Guard.
• Along with this, the Indian Air Force, Air Force and Indian Army were also kept on standby to help if required.
• Every fisherman-sea farmer who went out to sea returned safely and more than 21 thousand boats came ashore.
• A total of 19 NDRF teams were deployed in 9 coastal districts of Gujarat namely Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Junagadh, Rajkot and Valsad and 1 Union Territory of Diu.
• 12 SDRF troops were deployed in 7 coastal districts (Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Junagadh) and Patan and Banaskantha and 1 SDRF troop was kept in reserve at Surat.
Trail of damage
- 63 roads were affected in Kutch. As many as 1670 raw and 275 paved houses are affected in the entire district.
- As many as 80,000 power poles have been damaged in Kutch district.
- As many as 3275 trees fell in the Kutch district
- 71 animals have died in the district of Kutch.
