Cyclone Biparjoy: Ensure evacuation of people from vulnerable areas, says PM

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said rescue teams were ensuring the safe evacuation of people living in vulnerable locations in the path of Cyclone Biparjoy, which is likely to make landfall in Gujarat’s Kutch.

The prime minister chaired a high-level meeting here to review the preparedness of the Centre as well as the Gujarat government to deal with the situation arising out of the impending cyclone, which is also expected to impact Pakistan.

”Our teams are ensuring safe evacuations from vulnerable areas and ensuring maintenance of essential services. Praying for everyone’s safety and well-being,” Modi tweeted after the meeting.

According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Modi has directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated by the state government.

He also directed to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health and drinking water, and restore them immediately in the event of any damage caused to them.

The prime minister further said the safety of animals should be ensured and ordered the setting up of 24×7 control rooms.

The meeting was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister P K Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran, Member Secretary of National Disaster Management Authority Kamal Kishore, and India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra among others.

During the meeting, the IMD informed that Cyclone Biparjoy was expected to cross Saurashtra and Kutch between Mandvi and Pakistan’s Karachi near the Jakhau Port of Gujarat by noon of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm.

The cyclone is likely to have a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph.

Under the influence of the cyclone, coastal districts of Gujarat are likely to witness heavy rainfall, including extremely heavy falls in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar, and heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh, on June 14-15.

The IMD also informed that it has been issuing regular bulletins since the onset of the cyclonic system on June 6 with the latest forecast to all the states and agencies concerned, the PMO statement said.

According to the PMO, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was reviewing the situation 24×7 and was in touch with the state government and the central agencies concerned.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 12 teams, which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters and telecom equipment, and kept 15 teams on standby, the PMO said.

The Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations, it said.

The Air Force and the Army’s engineering task force units are also on standby for deployment, the statement said.

Surveillance aircraft and helicopters have been deployed along the coast, and Disaster Relief teams (DRTs) and Medical Teams (MTs) of the Army, Navy and Coast Guard are on standby, it added.

The prime minister was also briefed about the measures taken by the government of Gujarat to deal with the cyclone.

Review meetings with the district administration have been held at the level of the chief minister, and the entire state administration machinery is geared up to meet any exigency situation, the statement said.

The cabinet secretary and the home secretary were in constant touch with the chief secretary of Gujarat and the central ministries and agencies concerned, it added.