Cyclone VAYU: 2.15 lakh people shifted, more than 500 villages evacuated, says Guj govt

Around 2.15 lakh people have been shifted and more than 500 villages have been evacuated from the coastal regions in view of the Cyclone "VAYU" approaching the Gujarat Coast, Gujarat government said on Wednesday.

"People are also supporting us in the evacuation process. From midnight police will be patrolling the vulnerable areas. According to IMD, Vayu cyclone is far away, around 280 km from Veraval and 360 km away from Porbandar," Pankaj Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Gujarat Revenue Department said.

36 teams of NDRF are deployed and 11 more team is ready. Nine teams of SRDF, 14 companies of SRP, 300 marine commandos have also been deployed.

Besides 9 helicopters have also been placed at strategic points, the Coast Guard said.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in a statement said that it has deployed its 40 rescue and relief teams along the coastal areas of Gujarat and Diu in the wake of anticipated cyclonic storm Vayu.

"36 teams have been pre-positioned/deployed at Kutch, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Porbandar, Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagarh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Valsad, Surat and Gandhi Nagar while 04 teams have been pre-positioned at Diu for a prompt response," it said in a statement.

NDRF teams are assisting the local administration in evacuating the people to safer places.

"Today, NDRF teams relocated over 74,000 people from coastal areas of Morbi, Bhavnagar, Junagarh, Gir Somnath, Jam Nagar, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot and Amreli districts of Gujarat. The evacuation is still in progress," it said.

In addition, 6 NDRF teams each are being airlifted from Patna Airport and INS Rajali to Gujarat. This will raise the number to 52 teams in Gujarat (47 teams) and Diu (05 Teams) for assisting the local administration in rescue and relief work.

Director General, NDRF is regularly coordinating with the concerned authorities for effective response during the anticipated cyclonic storm, the statement said.

The cyclone is expected to touch Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval and Diu region as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph on the morning of June 13.

Cyclone Vayu is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of Gujarat along with storm surge, which may cause inundation in the low lying coastal areas of Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagarh, Diu, Gir, Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts at the time of landfall.