Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday directed officials to ensure the safety of humans and animals, living in areas likely to be affected by severe cyclone ‘Biparjoy’.

He chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness of Ministries/Agencies of the Centre as well as Gujarat to deal with the situation arising out of the impending cyclone.

“Prime Minister directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated by the State government and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water, etc. and are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office said.

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He also directed that the safety of animals should be ensured and further directed for 24*7 functioning of control rooms. It was informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reviewing the situation 24*7 and is in touch with the State government and the Central Agencies concerned.

All hands on deck

The Prime Minister was also briefed about measures taken by the government of Gujarat to deal with the cyclone. Review meetings with the district administration have been held at the level of Chief Minister and the entire State administration machinery is geared up to meet any exigency situation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has pre-positioned 12 teams equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipment, etc., and has kept 15 teams on standby. Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search, and rescue operations.

Air Force and Engineer task force units of the Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment. Surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out serial surveillance along the coast. Disaster Relief teams (DRTs) and Medical Teams (MTs) of the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard are on standby.

The meeting was attended by the Home Minister, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, and other senior officers.

Biparjoy’s route

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ is expected to cross Saurashtra & Kutch between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph.

It is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Gujarat, including extremely heavy falls in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka & Jamnagar, and heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi & Junagarh districts of Gujarat on June 14-15.

IMD informed that it has been issuing regular bulletins since the onset of the cyclonic system on June 6 with the latest forecast to all the States and Agencies concerned.

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