Cyclone Biparjoy approaches: Gujarat evacuates thousands, shuts schools, ports
As a precautionary measure, the government has shut down schools till June 15. All sea ports in the Gulf of Kutch, including Kandla and Jakhau ports have also been shut down, and finished activities suspended. The Western Railway has cancelled 67 trains and short-terminated or short-originated 43 others passing through the cyclone-affected six coastal districts of Gujarat.
The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation has also cancelled many routes in view of the cyclone and Union Minister Mandaviya said that the forest department is trimming large trees in an effort to save them from being uprooted by cyclonic winds. Two teams each of NDRF and SDRF have been deployed.
Mandaviya said the Army, the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard are also geared up to join any rescue and relief work.
Heavy rains occurred in some areas of Rajasthan on Friday under the influence of Cyclone Biparjoy which moved towards the state in the form of a deep depression following its landfall in Gujarat, officials said.
Rail traffic in the North Western Railway zone was affected by the heavy rainfall with 14 trains cancelled. The Rajasthan government has also temporarily suspended the inflation relief camps in districts where the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for heavy rains.
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After churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days, Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday and left a trail of destruction in the western coastal state's Kutch and Saurashtra regions. As the cyclone moved into Rajasthan in the form of a deep depression, rainfall began in Jalore, Sirohi, Barmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and nearby areas on Friday with wind speed in some areas reaching 40 to 50 km per hour. (PTI)
Giving an update about the specifics of Cyclone Biparjoy, the IMD said: “The storm is over Kutch and adjoining Pakistan about 30 km northeast of Dholavira, 190 km west of Deesa and 200 km south-southwest of Barmer. It is expected to weaken further into a deep depression around midnight today.”
More than 1,000 teams are working across eight districts of Gujarat to restore power in the aftermath of cyclone Biparjoy, a state government release said here on Friday evening.
Advance planning and evacuation of more than one lakh persons helped the state achieve 'zero casualties" as the cyclone battered Kutch and Saurashtra regions, the release quoted Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel as saying. Officials had said earlier in the day that about 1,000 villages are still without power as the cyclone uprooted hundreds of electric poles. The Kutch district, where the cyclone made landfall on Thursday evening, has borne the brunt of power failure.
To restore electricity, 1,127 teams are working in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Rajkot and Porbandar, said the release, adding that as many as 51 teams have been deployed to maintain operations of 714 substations in these areas. Forest department teams removed 581 fallen trees from the roads while 184 teams were deployed in and around the Gir Forest for the rescue of lions and other wild animals if any emergency arose, it said. (PTI)
One person was killed and three others injured in separate wall collapse incidents in Gujarat, hours after Cyclone Biparjoy made its landfall, packing in strong winds.
In one incident, a woman from Dhaniyavi village in Vadodara taluka was killed when the wall of her house collapsed owing to strong winds on Friday afternoon.
In a separate incident, three people were trapped under the debris of a house when a banyan tree that fell in Nagarwada in Vadodara city. It also crushed an auto rickshaw and a two wheeler. (Express News Service)
Cyclone Biparjoy, that left a trail of destruction in Gujarat before moving to Rajasthan today, had made its landfall near Jakhau port in Gujarat, bringing in associated wind speeds of 115-125 kilometres per hour (kmph) with it. A day after, here’s how the town looks:
The Gujarat government had deployed more than 200 teams in Gir forest and Kutch district to respond to emergencies related to Asiatic lions and other wildlife during the landfall of cyclone Biparjoy, an official said on Friday.
One of the teams rescued two lion cubs that had fallen into an open well in Jasadhar Range of Gir East division during the cyclone's landfall on Thursday evening, the official said.
Of the 210 teams formed by the state forest fepartment, 184 were deployed in the Gir Forest and surrounding regions, comprising nine divisions of Junagadh wildlife and territorial circle, a government release stated. The teams were formed to rescue wild animals, remove fallen trees and provide rapid response to any other emergency related to wildlife, it said.
The nine circles are Junagadh forest, Gir East, Gir West, Sasan, Porbandar, Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Morbi, the release added. As per the last wildlife census conducted in 2020, Gir forest in Saurashtra region is home to 674 lions and many other carnivorous and herbivorous animals.
The forest department had also set up 58 control rooms at different locations in the Asiatic lion zone to receive SOS messages from people about any wildlife emergency during the cyclone, the release said. Satellite technology was used to keep watch on the movement of lions during the cyclone, and some radio-collared lions were tracked through satellite signals, it said.
"The state forest department has created a high-tech 'lion movement monitoring system' to track the big cats. Apart from this, the movement of 40 lions living near the coastal areas is also being closely monitored," it said. (PTI)
Parts of the national capital received rainfall on Friday, bringing Delhiites a much-needed respite from the heat. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast light rain and thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds in Delhi for the day.
Early this week, private forecasting agency Skymet Weather had said light rains may occur in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and west Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and Friday under the influence of Cyclone Biparjoy. After churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days, Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday.
Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 27.9 degrees Celsius on Friday, while the maximum is likely to settle around 38 degrees Celsius, according to the IMD.
The cyclone will weaken and move further over Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pali and Sirohi where very heavy rainfall is likely, the official said, adding that heavy rains may also occur in Rajsamand, Dungarpur and nearby areas on Friday and Saturday. Strong winds with a speed of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour are expected in the adjoining areas of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore and Jodhpur on Friday and in the adjoining areas of Jodhpur, Udaipur and Ajmer on Saturday.
The cyclonic storm, following its landfall, left a trail of destruction as it damaged 5,120 electricity poles and rendered 4,600 villages without power even as the authorities said that no loss of human life has been reported. Power supply has been restored in 3,580 villages, while more than 1,000 are still without electricity, officials said. Nearly 600 trees got uprooted and traffic movement on three state highways came to a standstill due to damages and felling of trees.
Pakistan was largely spared the full force of Cyclone Biparjoy which weakened into a severe cyclonic storm on Friday after making landfall in Gujarat, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake in the Indian state.
People in Sindh's coastal city of Keti, who braved the cyclone threat and a warning of monsoon rains, are now returning to their homes after the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said the cyclone has weakened into a “severe cyclonic storm” from a “very severe cyclonic storm”.
“The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) 'BIPARJOY' over the northeast Arabian Sea after crossing the Indian Gujarat coast (near Jakhau port) has weakened into a Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS),” the Met Office said in its latest advisory," it said. "The system is likely to weaken further into a Cyclonic Storm (CS) by today noon and subsequently into a Depression by today evening," the alert added. (PTI)
Several areas of Jalore and Barmer districts in Rajasthan witnessed heavy rain due to Cyclone Biparjoy, which moved towards the desert state following its landfall in Gujarat, officials said on Friday.
A meteorological department official said 60-70 mm rains occurred at a few places on Thursday night and extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur in both the districts and adjoining areas on Friday.
According to the official, 69 mm rainfall was recorded in Jalore till Friday morning.
The department has sounded a "red" alert for Jalore and Barmer. More than 200 mm rainfall may occur in the areas where the alert has been sounded.
The cyclone will weaken and move further over Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pali and Sirohi where very heavy rainfall is likely, the official said, adding that heavy rains may also occur in Rajsamand, Dungarpur and nearby areas on Friday and Saturday.
Strong winds with a speed of 60 to 70 kilometres per hour are expected in the adjoining areas of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jalore and Jodhpur on Friday and in the adjoining areas of Jodhpur, Udaipur and Ajmer on Saturday.
Eight companies of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in Jaipur, Kota, Bharatpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner and one company of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been deployed in Kishangarh in Ajmer district to rescue people affected by the heavy rains.
The local administration in the affected districts has also made preparations, such as arrangement of pumps and deployment of civil defence and disaster management teams, in view of the "red" and "orange" alerts. (PTI)
Around 1,100 villages and dozens of towns in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat were without power on Friday morning as cyclone Biparjoy uprooted electricity poles, snapped power conductors and grounded power transformers while making landfall on Jakhau port late on Thursday night.
The cyclone continued to ravage the twin regions on Friday morning bringing gusty winds and downpours.
As of 8 am, there was a blackout in 1,092 villages in the two regions, said state-owned Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) that distributes power in Saurashtra and Kutch regions.
Gopal B Kateshiya reports
Persistent heavy rain and squally winds since morning have been hampering efforts of restoring road, power and communication connectivity in Kutch.
An NDRF team rescues fishermen of Rupen harbour village near Rukmani Temple on Friday after water surges in the village due to Cyclone Biparjoy in Devbhumi Dwarka district.
(Express photos by Bhupendra Rana)
NDRF team cuts down a tree that has fallen, near Rupana harbour village on the road to Rukmani Temple at Devbhumi Dwarka
(Express photos by Bhupendra Rana)
As per directives from IMD, signal GD 10 is being lowered and LCS 3 is being hoisted at Okha Port, due to the impact of Cyclone Biparjoy.
Porbandar port also lowering signal No.9 and hoisting Nom3.
Gujarat's Rajkot is experiencing heavy rains following the impact of Cyclone Biparjoy.
Upleta taluka of Rajkot logs 6 inch of rain, Dhoraji 4, Jamkandiorna 3.5 inch and Jetpur 2 inch
Road clearing work in progress in Morbi, the night after cyclone Biparjoy made landfall
The irrigation department has opened floodgates of Umiyasagar dam in Sidsar village of Jamnagar after the dam was filled up to its capacity following heavy rains due to Cyclone Biparjoy.
(Express photos by Nirmal Harindran)
In Dwarka, an NDRF battalion is working on rescue and relief operation as 22 'kachcha and pucca' houses collapsed, along with 36 electric poles, on Friday morning, due to the impact of Cyclone Biparjoy.
NDRF has also reported death of four livestock due to electrocution.
Kutch is still reeling under the impact of Biparjoy, 12 hours after the severe cyclonic storm made a landfall on Jakhau port in Gujarat coast. Gusty winds and persistent rains were experienced by the district on Friday morning. Meanwhile, government machinery has been activated for assessing damage caused by the cyclone and communication lines were down in some parts of the district.
Due to the effects of the Biparjoy cyclone, which hit the city on Thursday evening, the Vadodara District Collector has ordered that schools and colleges stay closed on Friday. At around 7.30 pm on Thursday, the city witnessed heavy rain and strong winds, resulting in power disruptions in several neighbourhoods.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw monitoring control room as Cyclone Biparjoy makes landfall.
As many as 99 trains were cancelled by the Indian Railways on Thursday evening in view of the cyclonic storm 'Biparjoy'. 39 trains were also short terminated.
Speaking about the progress of the cyclonic storm IMD chief Dr M Mohapatra said: “The landfall process has started. The cyclone is still 70 km away and is moving towards the coast. The cyclone will cross the sea and be inland by midnight... The wind speed is about to reach its maximum, 125 kmph, and will reduce thereafter.”
At least three people were injured after trees fell in Gujarat's Devbhoomi Dwarka district as cyclone Biparjoy made landfall with destructive wind speed and incessant rains on Kutch coast on Thursday evening, officials said.
Many trees and electricity poles were uprooted near Jakhau and Mandvi towns in Kutch district while tin sheets used in house construction were blown away. Until 7 pm there had been no report of death, said Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi.
"Three persons have sustained injuries in Devbhoomi Dwarka district due to treefall and are being treated. Teams of Gujarat police, NDRF and Army are working in different parts of Dwarka to remove uprooted trees and electricity poles," he added.
The landfall process of the cyclone started at 4.30 pm and will be completely by midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Dwarka, Okha, Naliya, Bhuj, Porbandar and Kandla along Gujarat coasts received heavy rainfall since Thursday morning. The coastal area witnessed strong winds of up to 50 kmph, the IMD said. (PTI)
The landfall process of Cyclone Biparjoy has started near Jakhau port in the state’s Kutch district and will continue till midnight, IMD said in its latest bulletin. The cyclone will be crossing Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) by tonight. What is the “landfall” of a cyclone? Read our Explainer to know.
As Cyclone Biparjoy’s landfall commenced, parts of Gujarat witnessed heavy rainfall. The Met office had earlier warned of very heavy (11.5 cm to 20.4 cm) to extremely heavy rainfall (over 20.5 cm) in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts.
"We won't be surprised if some areas record more than 25 cm of rainfall. Usually, they do not receive such intense precipitation at this time of the year. Therefore, there is a risk of flooding in the low-lying areas," Mohapatra had cautioned.
Meteorologists had warned of extensive damage to standing crops, houses, roads, electricity and communication poles, and flooding of escape routes. Hugh tides could inundate low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch coasts, they said.
Several parts of coastal Gujarat have been recording heavy rains and high-speed winds since Wednesday. Sea conditions are phenomenal (waves could be 10 to 14 metres high) in the northeast and the adjoining east-central Arabian Sea and all activities, including oil exploration, ship movement and fishing, have been suspended. (PTI)
The eye of Cyclone Biparjoy, the landfall process of which has already commenced, is around 50 km in diameter, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, while adding that the storm is marching ahead with a speed of 13-14 kmph. “Thus, it will take around five hours for the wall cloud and the eye to completely cross into the land,” he added.
As the landfall process commences in Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel holds a review meeting to take stock of the situation. Besides the CM, senior ministers are officials are also present at the meeting.
After the landfall, the cyclone is expected to dissipate pretty quickly, as happens with most other cyclones as well. By Friday, the cyclone would have dissipated almost completely.
But during this time, it is expected to cause lot of damage in the coastal districts of Gujarat, many parts of which have already begun to see storm surges and rainfall. Storm surges could go as high as 3 to 6 metres at some places, the IMD has warned.
Mud and thatched houses along the coast are likely to get completely destroyed, while even permanent concrete structures are expected to get damaged. Power and communication lines are also likely to get snapped. As of now, roughly 94,000 people have been evacuated from eight coastal districts in Gujarat, including 35,822 along the coast of Kutch district. A total of 30 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in several parts of Gujarat.
The landfall process of Cyclone Biparjoy has started near Jakhau port in Gujarat’s Kutch district and will continue till midnight, the India Meteorological Department said. The cyclone will be crossing Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by tonight.
Speaking about the fallout of Cyclone Biparjoy, Rear Admiral Kunal Rajkumar, Chief Staff Officer, OPS, Western Naval command, said: “We're expecting winds of approximately 130 km per hour, with heavy rainfall in the northern Gujarat area. Naval stations in the Gujarat area are ready with over 25 specialist teams. These teams comprise diverse medical specialists, good swimmers along with equipment like portable chain sets, cutting tools that are very useful in removal of debris and fallen trees.”
The `wall cloud' region of cyclone Biparjoy touched the Saurashtra coast of Gujarat on Thursday evening as it headed for landfall near Jakhau port in the state's Kutch district, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The authorities have already shifted more than 94,000 persons in eight coastal districts of Gujarat to temporary shelters. The landfall process will commence in the evening and carry on till midnight, the IMD said in its latest bulletin. The cyclone lay 80 km west-southwest of Jakhau port and packed winds of 120-130 kmph gusting to 145 kmph, it said. (PTI)
Even as preparations were in full swing in anticipation of Cyclone Biparjoy, the district administration in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka faced a unique and unexpected crisis Thursday morning. It had to launch an operation to save a 15-year-old girl who had suffered a snakebite at the Bet Dwarka island.
The officials faced difficulty in evacuating the victim, Aarti Kubawat, as the ferry service to the Okha shores had been suspended and the 108 ambulance boat had been taken off waters in anticipation of the cyclone. Read More
The Indian Coast Guard is ready to tackle the fallout of Cyclone Biparjoy, keeping 15 ships ready in multiple configurations. “7 aircraft in SAR role for rescue ops in the sea. 23 disaster relief teams with 29 gemini boats, 50 OBMs (Out Board Motor) for boats 1000 lifejackets and 200 lifebuoys, formed up in the ICG stations for aid to civil authorities,” they said.
The ancient Dwarkadish temple in Gujarat has been closed for visitors in view of cyclone Biparjoy that is likely to make landfall near Jakhau Port in the state's Kutch district late Thursday night, a senior official said.
Dwarkadhish group of temples with its outer compounds is a protected site under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The main temple at Dwarka, situated on Gomti creek, is known as jagat mandir (universal shrine) or trilok sundar (the most beautiful in all the three worlds), according to the official website of Devbhumi Dwarka district.
The India Meteorological Department said Biparjoy is likely to make landfall near Jakhau Port late Thursday night as a 'very severe cyclonic storm' with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 140 kilometres per hour, due to which more than 94,000 people in eight coastal districts have been shifted to temporary shelters. (PTI)
Although Cyclone Biparjoy is yet to make landfall, the people of south Gujrat have been witnessing its effects since early morning today as winds have been gusting at over 58 km/hr.
However, no damage or casualties have been reported so far by the administrative officials of Surat, Navsari, Valsad and Bharuch districts. High tides could be seen in the coastal areas. Two minors were injured and hospitalized after a wall fell on them in Udhna area in Surat.
The beaches in Surat (Dumas and Suvali), Navsari (Ubharat, Dandi) and Valsad (Teethal) have been kept closed for visitors. NDRF teams have been deployed on the beaches and the district administrative official’s quick response teams have been stationed at various villages.
There are 47 villages on the seacoast in Surat district, 15 in Navsari, and over 27 in Valsad. Sources said all of them have been put on alert by authorities and the residents have been intimated that if the situation worsens, they will have to leave their houses. The minimum and maximum temperature recorded in Surat on Thursday was 27.3 degrees and 37 degrees respectively.
Collector in-charge of Surat, B K Vasava, said, “The effect of Biparjoy has been witnessed in Surat. We have issued an alert across 42 coastal villages and made alternate arrangements for them at safer places.” (Express News Service)
Cyclone Biparjoy, which is about 80 km from the coast of will be crossing Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by tonight, with the landfall process commencing by evening and continuing till midnight.
The very severe cyclonic storm will have a maximum sustained wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph.
NDRF has evacuated 72 civilians, including 15 children, from the Rupen Bander low lying area and shifted them to the NDH School Dwarka on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Kutch region is now under a cover of dark clouds and it has been raining intermittently.
Ahead of the cyclone’s landfall, UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi shared some images of the cyclone taken from the International Space Station. Al Neyadi shared that the images and video shared by him on Twitter were taken more than two days earlier when the cyclone was forming in the Arabian Sea. Earlier this year, Al Neyadi made history as both the first Arab astronaut to go on a long-term space mission and the first Arab astronaut to go on a spacewalk. Read More
As cyclone Biparjoy nears landfall, Inspector General AK Harbola, Commander, Indian Coast Guard, Region (North West) said: “We are expecting landfall to take place between 1800 and 2000 hours (6-8pm). Anticipating the situation post that, we have kept around 15 ships and 7 aircraft on standby. We have also kept 4 special Dornier and 3 helicopters at Coast Guard Station in Daman. We will deploy them if necessary…”
With cyclone Biparjoy headed to make a landfall in Gujarat, the town of Devbhumi Dwarka came to a standstill on Thursday morning. Shops and establishments in the town shut down in precaution and officials of the fire and emergency services shifted street dwellers to safer locations.
Gujarat MoS for Home Harsh Sanghvi, who is stationed in Dwarka, supervised the evacuation of people from the low lying areas and also visited the Sanatan Seva Ashram where an Army unit of 78 personnel has been moved in from Jamnagar to assist in the possible rescue and relief operations. Sanghvi also visited shelters in Gandhvi and met the residents, who have been evacuated from the low lying areas. Read More
The cyclone Biparjoy has begun to weaken a bit but it would still be sufficiently strong to cause potentially widespread damage when it makes a landfall later on Thursday (June 15).
The landfall is expected is expected to happen near Jakhau Port in Gujarat, barely 70 km southeast from the international border with Pakistan. The process of landfall is likely to continue for a several hours, from early evening till about midnight, the latest bulletin from India Meteorological Department said.
Biparjoy has already lost some energy from Wednesday, and has been downgraded to a “very severe cyclonic storm” from “extremely severe cyclonic storm”. Read our Explainer