Cyclone Biparjoy: At Review Meet, PM Modi Asks for Safe Evacuations, Maintenance of Essential Services

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a review meeting to take stock of the preparedness to tackle fallout due to severe cyclonic storm ‘Biparjoy,’ which is likely to make landfall in Gujarat this week.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone is moving north-northeast and will cross Saurashtra and Kutch by Thursday noon, with winds going up to 125 to 135 kmph, and gusting to 150 kmph.

Gujarat has been placed on high alert, with an ‘orange alert’ for June 14, and a ‘red alert’ for June 15.

What did PM Modi say in the meet?

• In the meet, the prime minister was briefed about the efforts taken by authorities to mitigate the impact of the cyclone.
• PM Modi instructed the authorities to take “every possible measure” to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated.
• He also asked for the “maintenance of all essential services — power, Telecommunications, health, drinking water etc — with preparedness and their immediate restoration in the event of damages.
• He also said to ensure the safety of animals in the extreme weather event.
• He further directed for 24×7 functioning of control rooms.

The meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister P K Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba among others.

What all has been done on ground?

It was discussed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is reviewing the situation around the clock, and is coordinating with the state governments as well as central agencies working.

• For on ground support,  NDRF has pre-positioned 12 teams, which are equipped with boats, tree-cutters, telecom equipment. Another 15 teams are on standby.
• Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief, search and rescue operations.
• Apart from this, Air Force and Engineer task force units of the Army, with boats and rescue equipment, are on standby for deployment.
• For better communication, surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out serial surveillance along the coast.
• Disaster Relief teams (DRTs) and Medical Teams (MTs) of Army, Navy and Coast Guard are also on standby.

Along with this, the prime minister was also briefed about measures taken by 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. Also, Cabinet Secretary and Home Secretary are in continuous touch with the Chief Secretary of Gujarat and Central Ministries/ Agencies concerned.

When is the cyclone likely to hit?

During the meeting, India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ is expected to cross Saurashtra & Kutch between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of 15th June as a very severe cyclonic storm with 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 and 15.

On June 14, IMD has declared an orange alert for all districts, while on June 15 a red alert has been issued across the state.