Around 50,000 people have been evacuated from Gujarat's vulnerable areas to safer locations as the state braces for Cyclone Biparjoy.
While 18 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been placed in Gujarat, 14 have been placed in Maharashtra, and one has been stationed in neighbouring Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Around 50,000 people have been evacuated from Gujarat's vulnerable areas to safer locations as the state braces for Cyclone Biparjoy.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the armed forces, and state agencies have been deployed in the region to deal with the situation.
The cyclone is expected to make landfall near Jakhau Port in Kutch district on Thursday evening. It's expected to hammer the Gujarat coast and parts of the Kutch-Saurashtra regions of the state. Heavy rains with strong winds reaching up to the speed of 150 kmph at the time of landfall are expected.
The region has already started receiving rainfall in the run-up to the landfall. Nine talukas in Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar and Rajkot districts received more than 50 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending on Wednesday morning.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Biparjoy was set to change the path on Wednesday and begin moving north-eastwards towards Kutch and Saurashtra but it will still have landfall as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speed ranging from 125-135 kmph, gusting to 145 kmph from morning to evening on Thursday.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel took stock of the situation with senior officers, while at the central level, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh separately reviewed the preparedness to deal with the impact of the cyclone.
Around 50,000 people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas to safer locations for safety concerns in Gujarat and a total of 33 NDRF teams have been deployed in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
While 18 NDRF teams have been placed in Gujarat, 14 have been placed in Maharashtra, and one has been stationed in neighbouring Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The Gujarat government has undertaken a massive exercise to evacuate people living in villages within a 10 km radius of the coast, with a special focus on Kutch which is likely to be worst affected by the cyclone, and move them to temporary shelters.
Earlier, the officials said the evacuation was expected to be completed by Wednesday evening.
"The cyclone is nearly 290 km away from Kutch at present. As a precautionary measure, we have already shifted nearly 50,000 people living in coastal areas to temporary shelters. The evacuation process is still on and the remaining 5,000 persons will be shifted by this evening to safer places" said State Commissioner of Relief, Alok Kumar Pandey.
Of the 50,000-odd evacuees, nearly 18,000 people were shifted to shelters in Kutch district while others were evacuated from Junagadh, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Morbi and Rajkot, Pandey told reporters in Gandhinagar.
Besides the 18 NDRF teams, Pandey said 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), 115 teams of state road and building department, and 397 teams of the state electricity department have been deployed in different coastal districts.
"Officials of departments of Electricity and Road & Building have also reached designated spots to restore connectivity and power supply. We have also deployed teams carrying HAM Radio sets and satellite phones in the coastal region for better communication," said Pandey.
CM Patel held a meeting with the state chief secretary and senior officers at the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) and reviewed preparedness.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the three service chiefs and reviewed the preparations of the armed forces to deal with the impact of the cyclone.
After reviewing the preparations, Singh said the armed forces are ready to provide every possible assistance to civil authorities in tackling any situation or contingency that may arise due to the cyclone.
Union Health Minister Mandaviya reviewed the preparedness measures being taken in Kutch. He visited the Bhuj Air Force station to take stock of the preparations made by 'Garuda' Emergency Response Team of the Indian Air Force.
He said, "Our jawans are fully prepared for the safety of life and property from the cyclone."
Mandaviya also visited the K K Patel Super Speciality hospital in Bhuj to assess the emergency preparedness. He reviewed the availability of oxygen, ventilators and critical care beds in Kutch district government hospitals, trust-run hospitals and other hospitals in the region.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said Biparjoy was set to change path on Wednesday and begin moving north-eastwards towards Kutch and Saurashtra and have landfall on Thursday evening near Jakhau Port.
He said, "For the past six hours, it has become very slow, practically stationary. This is an indication that the direction of the movement of the cyclone will change now. We are expecting that it will move towards the northeast and it will hit Saurashtra, Kutch and adjoining Pakistan between Mandvi and Karachi near to Jakhau Port.
"If you look at the intensity, cyclone Biparjoy has slightly weakened further. But, it will still have landfall as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speed ranging from 125-135 kmph, gusting to 145 kmph from morning to evening on Thursday."
Several parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region witnessed heavy rainfall accompanied by strong wind, the Met department said.
The IMD stated that the intensity of rainfall would increase as the cyclone approaches the Gujarat coast with the isolated places in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar likely to witness extremely heavy rainfall during this period.
A few places in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi, Junagadh, and the remaining districts of Saurashtra and north Gujarat region are also likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday, it said.
"As the cyclone crosses the Gujarat coast on Thursday evening, isolated places in Porbandar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Kutch will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall. Devbhumi Dwarka may receive heavy to very heavy with isolated extremely heavy rainfall on Wednesday," said Ahmedabad IMD director Manorama Mohanty.
(With PTI inputs)