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Watch: As cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ arrives, Gujarat locals rope-link village for mobility
In Gujarat's Jamnagar, the locals installed ropes throughout the village to ensure mobility amid the adverse weather conditions expected due to the cyclone.
As cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ is set to make landfall in the coastal state of Gujarat on Thursday, the locals and authorities were seen making preparations to mitigate the impact of the ‘very severe’ cyclonic storm, which is expected to cause heavy damage. Visuals surfaced from Rasulnagar village in Jamnagar where the residents put up ropes across their village to ensure mobility while braving strong winds and heavy rainfall that is expected to follow the cyclone’s arrival. (Cyclone 'Biparjoy' LIVE updates)
A video of the preparation surfaced online, where villagers were seen installing ropes throughout the village, connecting homes to temples and elsewhere, in a bid to ensure safe navigation in their surroundings amid the impending challenging weather conditions.
Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’is expected to cross between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan near the Jakhau Port in Gujarat in the afternoon of June 15, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The cyclone could become one with the longest lifespan in the Arabian Sea and will hit the coast with a maximum speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour.
The only third cyclone in nearly 60 years to hit the western coast, ‘Biparjoy’ is moving north-northwestwards and is likely to enter southern Pakistan by Thursday evening.
Ahead of its landfall, the IMD Wednesday sounded a Red alert for the Saurashtra and Kutch coasts in Gujarat as there is a possibility of heavy damage due to the cyclonic storm.
It also predicted heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in parts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts of Gujarat on Wednesday. The rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds may cause major damage to houses, roads, crops, power and communication poles, prompting the authorities to place appropriate measures in places to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.
A total of 33 teams were deployed by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the relief and rescue operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra as part of the preparations to minimise the impact of damage by the cyclone. Of these, 18 NDRF teams have been placed in Gujarat. The locals of Jamnagar will be assisted by two NDRF teams, equipped with tree and pole cutters, electric saws, inflatable boats and basic medicines and relief items.
So far, more than 45,000 people in the coastal regions of Gujarat have been moved to safer places.
‘Biporjoy' is a name given by Bangladesh and means ‘disaster’ in Bangla.
