- Friday, February 28, 2025
On Monday, PM Narendra Modi held a high-level review meeting on the cyclone and asked officials to take every possible measure to ensure evacuation of people to safety.
By: Shubham Ghosh
EVACUATION WAS continuing in villages near the coast in the western Indian state of Gujarat on Tuesday (13) as Cyclone Biparjoy intensified into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”. It is predicted to make landfall between Kutch in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan on Thursday (15) afternoon.
Indian home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday morning chaired a meeting that featured disaster management ministers of states and Union Territories in New Delhi. On Monday (12), prime minister Narendra Modi held a high-level review meeting on the cyclone which has developed in the Arabian Sea region and asked officials to take every possible measure to ensure evacuation of people to safety.
In the evening, Modi spoke with the chief minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, over phone and enquired about the situation in the state, NDTV reported. According to Patel, the prime minister sought to know the state’s preparedness and assured all possible help.
Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said 8,000 people were moved to safer locations in Kutch.
A cyclone alert has been raised in the districts of Kutch and Saurashtra and according to officials, sea conditions off the coasts in both districts will likely remain “rough to very rough” till Wednesday (14), NDTV added.
The Indian Meteorological Department said districts such as Kutch, Jamnagar, Gir Somnath, Devbhumi Dwarka and Porbandar are likely to be hit by the cyclone with heavy rainfall and gutsy wind between Tuesday and Thursday. The wind speed might go up to 150 kilometres per hour, it added, according to the NDTV report.
Teams from the national and state disaster forces have been deployed for the storm situation and arrangements have been made for shelter, food and medicines of those evacuated, said Gujarat relief commissioner Alok Pandey.
Besides, the Army and Navy were on standby while Indian Coast Guard ships were patrolling off the coast.
