Picture : Twitter/ ANI
With Cyclone Vayu inching closer, the Gujarat government launched a massive evacuation exercise to shift about three lakh people from low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions. The “very severe cyclonic storm” is currently around 340 km south of Gujarat’s Veraval coast.
Cyclone Vayu is widely expected to hit Gujarat on June 13 at around 5 : 30 am According to Skymet Weather.
Track of Very Severe #CycloneVayu, heading towards #Saurashtra Coast, #Gujarat. #Gujaratcyclone #Cyclones #Vayu #VayuCyclone pic.twitter.com/dNJ4gjxyr0
— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) June 12, 2019
The state government said Cyclone Vayu is likely to affect the districts of Kutch, Morbi, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Devbhoomi-Dwarka, Porbandar, Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir-Somnath. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said nearly 2.91 lakh people from around 400 villages of these 10 districts will be provided shelter in government buildings or those owned by various trusts and NGOs.
Twenty villages in Gujarat’s Valsad district are on alert ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Vayu on Thursday morning. As many as 39 schools in villages near the coast in Valsad will remain closed, ANI reported.
The Kandla Port in Kutch, Gujarat, has been temporarily closed in the wake of approaching Cyclone Vayu. NDRF teams are evcuating local residents to safer places, ANI reported.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday appealed to people to cooperate in the evacuation process so that no life is lost due to the cyclone.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said late on Tuesday night that the district authorities have begun shifting people living in low-lying areas or near the coast to safer places. “We will shift nearly 2.91 lakh people living in around 400 villages of these 10 districts.”
