The Western Railway has decided to short-terminate or cancel some of its trains passing through areas of Gujarat that are likely to be affected by cyclone ‘Vayu’.

All WR passenger and mail trains to Veraval, Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj and Gandhidham stations in Gujarat will be short-terminated or cancelled from 6 pm on Wednesday till Friday morning, the WR said in a bulletin.

It has also planned to run a special train each from Gandhidham, Bhavnagar Para, Porbandar, Veraval and Okha to evacuate people from those areas, it said. Special trains with six to 10 coaches each will also be kept ready at the nearest safe location to be moved in emergency conditions, it said.

The coaches currently available at depots and station yards located in coastal areas were being shifted to safer places, the WR said. “Arrangements have been made for round-the-clock manning of the railway emergency control offices,” it said. All rail authorities concerned have been instructed to keep adequate manpower, and machinery like JCBs, tree-cutters, water tanks, tractors and generators on standby for any assistance required, the WR said.

Ports and Airports

Operations at all ports and airports located near the Gujarat coastline have been halted temporarily as a precautionary measure against cyclone ‘Vayu’, the state government said on Wednesday.

As per the weather department, the cyclone is expected to make a landfall in Gujarat on Thursday morning.

“The state government has decided to suspend operations at all the ports situated on Gujarat’s coast. As a precautionary measure, all the airports in Saurashtra region will also remain shut till the cyclone recedes,” Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said after a review meet in Gandhinagar.

The bus services to pilgrimage sites in that region have also been cancelled, he said.

Since all airports in Kutch and Saurashtra regions have been asked to shut their operations completely, flights to these destinations from Ahmedabad airport stand cancelled for Thursday.

“Flight operations from Ahmedabad to Porbandar, Union Territory of Diu, Kandla, Mundra and Bhavnagar are cancelled for tomorrow. All other scheduled flights are likely to operate normally from Ahmedabad,” the city airport said in a statement.

The cyclone is likely to affect Kutch, Morbi, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Devbhoomi-Dwarka, Porbandar, Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir-Somnath districts, an official said.

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