Not cyclone death if one enters flood in an act of dussahas: Rushikesh

When quizzed about the human loss of lives during and before the cyclone, Patel said, “There are two types (of deaths)… If a tin sheet is flying in the cyclone, a tree has fallen, an electricity pole has fallen and somebody gets electrocuted (resulting in the death of the person) within the duration of the cyclone, then that is the cyclone death. However, if flooding water is passing by and you do ‘dussahas’ (misadventure) of entering it, then I believe (it cannot be called a cyclonic death), notwithstanding the fact that it happened during the cyclone”.

When asked what a person, having some urgent matter to attend to, should do when the road is overflowing with flood water, Patel said, “…then you should wait. Because we know the situation of cyclones… Many times, a person does ‘dussahas’ by trying to pass through (the flood water).”
He was briefing media persons after the weekly cabinet meeting of ministers in Gandhinagar.

According to media reports, a shepherd and his son had lost their lives while they were trying to save their drowning herd of sheep in Sodvadar village on the outskirts of Bhavnagar city on the evening of Thursday when the cyclone landfall happened.

Replying to a question on how such deaths would be categorised, Patel said, “…that too can be called ‘dussahas’ (misadventure). But it can be considered a cyclone, if one wishes so.”
Patel also stated that during the cyclone, electricity supply, which was disrupted in 6,486 villages, has been restored in 5,753 villages, and work is on to restore in the rest.

Cash doles worth Rs 1.23 crore have already been paid and the process of payment is still on, he added.

Cyclone Biparjoy proved fatal to 1,320 animals and 1,907 chickens. Out of them, people can get compensation for the deaths of 1,129 animals, an official release stated.

In agriculture and horticulture, Patel said, the losses have been incurred on an estimated 53,000 hectares, including 14,887 fruit trees that had fallen. A detailed survey is on to get the details of the damages sustained.

The minister said the power distributor company Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited and the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation have sustained losses worth Rs 783 crore.