Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in his home State to survey the trail of devastation left in the wake of Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’.
Mr. Shah met the people of Kathda village in Mandvi while also interacting with personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Kachchh district.
Earlier, on June 17, Mr. Shah visited Mandvi Civil Hospital and interacted with those affected by the extremely severe cyclonic storm. Mr. Shah, along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, conducted an aerial survey of areas badly hit by the cyclone.
Cyclone Biparjoy, which originated in the Arabian Sea and swept across the west coast of India, made landfall on June 15 night around 10 km north of the Jakhau Port in Kutch in Gujarat. A total of six NDRF teams evacuated 127 civilians from Rupen Bandar Government Primary School and reshifted to NDH School Dwarka after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in coastal areas of the State on June 15 evening. According to NDRF, the evacuated civilians included 82 men, 27 women and 15 children.
With a prediction of heavy rainfall for the next two days for Gujarat after cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ made landfall in the State, Western Railways on June 16 decided to cancel, partially cancel the operation of a few more trains as a precautionary measure in the cyclone-prone areas. However, the cyclone weakened into a ‘deep depression’ and is further expected to weaken into a ‘depression’ in the next 12 hours, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in the early hours on June 17.
According to IMD, the cyclonic storm weakened into a ‘deep depression’ at 11:30 p.m. on June 16 over Southeast Pakistan.”Cyclonic Storm Biparjoy weakened into a Deep Depression at 2330 hours IST of yesterday, June 16, 2023, over Southeast Pakistan adjoining Southwest Rajasthan and Kutch about 100 km northeast of Dholavira. To weaken further into a Depression during next 12 hours,” IMD said in a tweet.
Earlier, it was reported that several trees were uprooted in Bhuj, Kutch, due to the impact of the cyclone. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team carried out the clearance work on June 16. Strong winds and rain from cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ caused a power outage in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district. PGVCL (Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited) teams were in action mode on Friday to restore the issue.
Of the damaged property, 414 feeders, 221 electric poles, and one TC were made operational immediately. The power supply was restored in villages of Jamnagar district. A transformer at Kalavad taluka of Jamnagar was made functional promptly after the cyclone passed.
NDRF Director General Atul Karwal on June 16 said no loss of life was reported after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in Gujarat. “Twenty-four animals have died and 23 people have been injured. Electricity supply has been interrupted in about a thousand villages. 800 trees have fallen. It is not raining heavily anywhere except Rajkot,” the NDRF DG Karwal said earlier.
