Taking stock. No lives lost in Cyclone Biparjoy: Disaster response force chief

No lives were lost after Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall in Gujarat, however, 23 people were injured and electricity supply was disrupted in about 1,000 villages in the state, NDRF Director-General (DG), Atul Karwal, said on Friday.

The Arabian Sea cyclone ripped through Kutch and parts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat on Thursday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Heavy rains have lashed the entire Kutch district since the cyclone started making landfall near Jakhau Port at 6.30 pm on Thursday, and the process continued till 2.30 am, according to officials.

Karwal told presspersons in Delhi that while two lives were "tragically" lost before the cyclone made landfall, not a single life was lost post landfall.

Drone view of fallen trees on the Naliya-Bhuj highway, in the aftermath of Cyclone Biparjoy in Gujarat on Friday. | Photo Credit: FRANCIS MASCARENHAS

The in-depth and coordinated efforts of the Gujarat administration and other agencies ensured that loss of life and property was minimum, he added.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) chief added that at least 23 people were injured due to the cyclonic effect.

He said about 1,000 villages were facing electricity disruption in the state.

About 40 per cent of the villages facing power cuts are in Kutch district that bore the brunt of the cyclone, he said.

About 500 'kutcha' houses or huts have been damaged, 'pucca' or permanent houses that suffered damage are in the single digits, while about 800 trees have been uprooted or hit, and our teams and those from the state disaster response force (SDRF) are working to normalise the situation and help those affected, Karwal said.

The DG said the road network in the state was by and large clear and the cellphone network was "still intact".

Except Rajkot, no place in Gujarat was experiencing heavy rains, Kutch was lashed by winds barrelling at 90-100 kilometres per hour. In other regions of the state, the winds-peed was 40-70 km per hour, he said.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy, first weakened into a severe storm, and then by noon a cyclone, and further by the evening it would convert into a deep depression, the DG said.

The cyclone is losing its power as it travels over land and was now moving towards southern Rajasthan, he said.

The DG said an NDRF team was positioned in Jalore (Rajasthan) on Thursday evening after consultations with the state government, as heavy rains may lead to flooding and people getting trapped.

Photos and videos shared by NDRF personnel showed rescuers cutting fallen trees using electric saws and evacuating people from areas that were flooded due to heavy rains.

A total of 18 NDRF teams, equipped with pole and tree cutters and inflatable boats, have been deployed in Gujarat, apart from one team in the neighbouring Union Territory of Diu for rescue and relief operations.

Five NDRF teams are deployed in Maharashtra (Mumbai) and four in Karnataka to respond to any situation that develops in the aftermath of the cyclone, Karwal said.