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Watch: Bridge swept away as cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ batters Gujarat's Bhuj
Cyclone Biparjoy: As the cyclone unleashed a destructive trail on the coast, trees were uprooted, blocking roads and hindering transportation.
In the aftermath of the devastating cyclone Biparjoy, Gujarat's Kutch and Saurashtra regions have been hit by the intense rain and the residents are grappling with the nature's furry.
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A small bridge near the village of Bhavanipar in Bhuj was swept away amid the strong winds with speed of as high as 140 kmph and incessant rains on Friday. Fortunately there were no injuries or casualties, reported news agency ANI.
The very severe cyclonic storm, which made the landfall near Gujarat's Jakhau port on Thursday night, has been reduced to severe cyclonic storm, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Read here: Biparjoy's destruction in numbers: 800 trees uprooted, 500 houses damaged, 23 people injured
As the cyclone unleashed a destructive trail on the coast, trees were uprooted, blocking roads and hindering transportation. Moreover, around 1,000 villages are without power with hundreds of electric poles got damaged, while several coastal villages were flooded due to heavy rains and incoming high tides, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials have said.
"The biggest achievement for the state is that not a single human death has been reported so far due to cyclone Biparjoy. This has been possible because of our collective effort," state Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey told PTI.
IMD has predicted that the storm will weaken into a deep depression over the Saurashtra-Kutch region by today. “CS BIPARJOY at 1430IST of today and lay near lat 23.9N and long 70E, about 80km NNE of Bhuj and 20 km W of Dholavira.Likely to weaken further into a deep depression over Saurashtra & Kutch around night of today,” IMD tweeted.
According to the Meteorological office director of Ahmedabad, Manorama Mohanty, the Saurashtra-Kutch region will experience heavy-extremely heavy rainfall, along with Patan and Banaskantha districts.
Read here: Gujarat cop rescues 4-day-old baby during cyclone Biparjoy; video viral
"There is a possibility of heavy to very heavy rains in Dwarka, Jamnagar, and Morbi. There may be heavy rains in many districts including Porbandar, and Rajkot. All in all, the entirety of Gujarat is likely to have rain today," she said.
While briefing about the preparedness of the situation, NDRF Director General Atul Karwal has said that a total of 18 NDRF teams, equipped with pole and tree cutters and inflatable boats, were deployed in Gujarat, five in Mumbai and four in Karnataka to undertake rescue operations and respond to any situation that develops due to the storm.
(With inputs from agencies)
