Cyclone Biparjoy: Over 94,000 evacuated, forces on standby in Gujarat

Experts and officials feared significant damage to infrastructure after cyclone Biparjoy battered Kutch and Saurashtra with winds as strong as 140k/hr.

Updated on: Jun 16, 2023, 02:00:38 IST

By Jayashree Nandi, Maulik Pathak, New Delhi/Ahmedabad

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Thousands of rescue workers, essential services staff and military personnel waited late on Thursday for the storm to pass so in order to begin rehabilitation work, as experts and officials feared significant damage to infrastructure after cyclone Biparjoy battered Kutch and Saurashtra with winds as strong as 140k/hr.

A man rides a motorcycle through a waterlogged street in Mandvi, before the arrival of cyclone Biparjoy, in Gujarat on Thursday. (Reuters)

Also Read | Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall on Gujarat coast after sustaining for 222 hrs

In all, over 94,000 people were evacuated within Gujarat, which has a coastline stretching over 1,600km. Some of the evacuees were taken from vulnerable settlements to further inland, where they were housed in government facilities.

“There are about 270 houses in our village and all of us are safely at this relief centre. Facilities are adequate although we would like to return home soon,” said Latif Umar, a farmer who lives with his family of six at Asirawand village, 6lm from Jakhau. They were now at a government hospital, while the winds outside began to pick up.

Also Read | Mobile network down due to Cyclone Biparjoy? Connect to any operator | 5 steps

The cyclone’s landfall began around 6:30pm and was expected to last till midnight, after which the winds and rain were expected to begin relenting. The government has constructed 76 multipurpose cyclone shelters (MPCS) across the coastal regions.

Experts said the cyclone is likely to lead to significant economic losses. “Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to have a severe impact on Gujarat, with the total economic impact to be around ₹1,000 crore. The event will also impact solar plants significantly. At least 3 major seaports in Gujarat will be highly affected by strong winds and cyclone-induced flood, with Jakhau being most impacted due to the landfall nearest to it,” said Pushpendra Johari, SVP-sustainability, RMSI, a GIS and geospatial technology company.

Biparjoy is expected to cause damage to standing plantations in various districts as well, potentially resulting in losses to farmers. RMSI has estimated the potential loss to be in the range of ₹400-600 crore for agriculture.

The first order of business, however, would be restoring electricity and communications, officials said.

Teams from the electricity and road infrastructure departments were on stand-by to restore connectivity and power supply while communication lines had been reinforced with 25 HAM radio sets and 15 satellite phones.

HAM radios are a reliable mode of messaging during crises when traditional communication networks fail, provides a vital means of connectivity for natural disaster mitigation.

The Army has deployed 11 relief columns, the Air Force has stationed 5 helicopters for immediate deployment, the Navy has readied 10 rescue teams, and the Coast Guard has prepared 5 ships and 3 aircraft for search and rescue operations. The Border Security Force (BSF) has also stepped up its resources and established effective coordination with civil authorities.

Around 8,000 trucks were also stranded at Kandla Port, of which 40% are carrying containers with goods meant for export. Local customs brokers and transporters are providing necessary food and supplies to support the truckers, officials said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jayashree Nandi
I write on the environment and climate crisis and I believe these are the most important stories of our times.Read More
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maulik Pathak
He is an Ahmedabad-based journalist with more than two decades of experience. His career spans business journalism and general news, with reporting across politics, crime, governance, public policy, business, industry, infrastructure, energy, ports, aviation, the environment, wildlife and social issues. He began his career in feature writing before moving into business journalism, reporting on companies and sectors including energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and real estate. Over the years, his work expanded to politics, courts, crime, public policy, civic affairs, the environment and wildlife. His reporting has taken him from government offices and courtrooms to factory floors, ports, forests and remote villages, covering stories that range from industrial investments and financial markets to elections, conservation and issues affecting everyday life. While many assignments demand the pace of the daily news cycle, others require sustained reporting over months and years to follow developments beyond the headlines. He started his journalism career with the Asian Age in Ahmedabad in 2002 as a feature writer and sub-editor. Since 2022, he has been working with Hindustan Times. Earlier, he worked with Business Standard, DNA, The Economic Times, Mint and The Times of India. His longest stint was with Mint, where he spent more than eight years reporting across multiple beats. During his career, he has worked in both reporting and editing roles, contributing to page planning, local editions and special editorial projects as newsrooms evolved from print-first operations to digital publishing. Early in his career, he also worked on media and documentary projects with an NGO and as a copywriter at a communications agency before returning to journalism. Away from work, he sometimes makes time for a pair of binoculars, table tennis, cinema and the occasional poem.Read More

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