Cyclone Biparjoy: Gujarat on alert, schools closed, villages evacuated

With the impending danger of a severe cyclonic storm - Biparjoy - expected to hit Saurashtra and Kutch coastline on June 15, the Gujarat government on Monday announced the closure of schools in Kutch, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Junagadh districts as one of the many precautionary measures being undertaken to minimise the possible damage.

The moves came soon after orange alerts were sounded along the coastline.

Also Read: IMD issues 'orange alert' for Gujarat's coasts as cyclone Biparjoy intensifies

The cyclonic storm is expected to make its landfall on Thursday, hitting the Saurashtra coastline which is likely to cause major destruction to houses, roads, electricity, crops, and orchards among others. Government officials said that villagers falling along the coastline are being evacuated to safe places and teams of disaster management are being deployed in areas that are likely to be affected.

"ESCS (extremely severe cyclonic storm) BIPARJOY lay at 0830 IST today, about 320km SW (southwest) of Porbandar, 360km SSW (south-southwest) of Devbhumi Dwarka, 440km South of Jakhau Port, 440km SSW of Naliya. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of 15th June as VSCS (Very severe cyclonic storm)," stated a bulletin issued by India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday noon.

Meawhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of to deal with the situation. According to Prime Minister Office, the IMD informed that the cylone is expected to make its landfall by June 15 noon as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph.

According to IMD, the storm is likely to extremely heavy and heavy rainfall in the coastal districts. IMD's latest bulletin stated that extremely heavy falls will be witnessed in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagadh districts on 14 and 15 June.

IMD has predicted that the cyclonic storm is very likely to cross Saurashtra and Kutch coastline along with Pakistan coasts between Mandvi in Kutch and Karachi in Pakistani near Jakhau port in Kutch district by Thursday noon with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph as a very severe cyclonic storm. The storm is predicted to lead to very heavy rainfall in Kutch and Saurashtra regions like Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh and Morbi, among other districts.

Track live updates of cyclone Biparjoy here

The state government has issued warnings to fishermen against any fishing activities in view of the storm. The government has also suspended state functions such as its annual school enrolment drive - Shala Praveshotsva - among other functions in the districts. On Monday, the district authorities also issued notifications suspending schools in view of the storm.

Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said in a media briefing that evacuation of residents from worst affected villages falling within 0 to 5 km from the coast, where the cyclone is likely to make landfall in Kutch district between Mandvi and Jakhow, has been started from today. He said that "fishermen have returned safely following advance warning and all 24,000 boats along the coast have been parked safely."

He said that 12 teams each of NDRF-SDRF have been deployed in the cyclone-affected districts including Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Jamnagar and Porbandar to evacuate people to safe places due to strong winds and rain. NDRF and SDRF teams have also been deployed in districts such as Morbi, Gir Somnath, Junagadh and Rajkot. According to the PMO, the Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile, warnings have also been issued at Okha, Kandla, and other ports following IMD's forecast. "This is to inform all port users and government agencies that as per warning received from Indian Meteorological Department on 12/6/2023 at 11:30 hrs port has been hoisted GREAT DANGER WARNING SIGNAL-X (GD-10) at Okha port until further notice," a circular issued by the port officer of Gujarat maritime board stated.

Due to cyclonic activities, the sea conditions along the coastline are expected to remain "rough to very rough" until Thursday.