Evacuation of people, a minister in every district, no deaths… How did Biparjoy cope?

Biparjoy Cyclone Update: Biparjoy, a powerful cyclone in the Arabian Sea, hit the Jakhau coast in Kutch district of Gujarat on Thursday (June 15). Because of which hundreds of trees were uprooted, electric poles fell and many houses were damaged. However, till now there has not been any news of death of a single person due to the storm. It was not so easy to deal with this fierce storm. There were thousands of people in its JD and the government’s goal was to save everyone.

The central and state governments were conscious about this and preparations were going on for a week. After the sound of this storm, the memories of the devastating cyclone that hit Gujarat in June 1998 were getting fresh. In which 10,000 people were killed and the Kandla port was completely destroyed. This time the evacuation of one lakh people was monitored from at least nine high-risk districts in the state.

Deployed nine ministers in nine districts

According to the report of NDTV, a senior official said that in nine districts of Gujarat, one minister each from the Center and the state was deployed in each district to take stock of the preparations. According to NDTV, a week ago a coordinated effort was made involving nine ministers and nine bureaucrats to rescue the people. So that essential commodities can be made available to the people. During this, efforts were also made for the safety of cattle in Kutch and other coastal areas.

The target was zero casualties during the cyclone.

Keeping in view the target of zero loss of life during the cyclone, the primary objective was to evacuate people living within 10 km radius of the coast to safer places. A detailed plan was made to ascertain the number of people living within five kilometers and five to 10 kilometers from the coast. In Kutch district alone, 122 villages were identified which fell within 10 km radius from the coast, out of which 72 villages were falling within five km radius from the coast.

PM Modi mentioned in Mann Ki Baat

For the absence of any death during this storm, the Gujarat government gave credit to the accurate predictions made regarding the cyclone and early preparations. The record of no casualties during such a severe cyclone is an achievement for the state and the Centre. PM Narendra Modi Mentioning this in his radio program Mann Ki Baat on Sunday morning, praised the efforts of the government and the people.

“People will soon recover from devastation”

He said that the strength of disaster management that India has developed over the years is becoming an example today. Cyclone Biparjoy caused a lot of destruction in Kutch, but the courage and preparedness with which the people of Kutch faced such a dangerous cyclone is equally unprecedented. The people of Kutch are full of confidence that they will soon recover from the devastation caused by Cyclone Biparjoy.

Preparations started as soon as the IMD’s forecast regarding the cyclone came and on June 11, the Gujarat government appointed a minister in each district. After knowing about the magnitude of the cyclone, the central ministers were also given the responsibility of the most affected areas of Gir-Somnath, Porbandar, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Kutch and its surrounding areas of Saurashtra.

Which minister was given the responsibility of where?

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya was sent to worst-affected Kutch, while fisheries and dairy minister Parshottam Rupala was posted in Dwarka. Minister of State for IT Devsingh Chauhan was sent to Jamnagar, while Minister of State for Railways Darshan Jardosh was sent to Porbandar and Minister of State Mahendra Mujanjapura to Gir-Somnath. PM Modi himself took stock of the preparations and spoke to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel several times. So that preparations can be ensured for the safety of not only the people of the state but also the cattle and the lions of Gir.

Had to do this first

The responsibilities assigned to the ministers included getting the district administration to identify shelter homes, ensuring the evacuation of more than one lakh people, arranging essential things like food, water, milk powder, medicines and even cradles in the shelter homes. . Apart from this, 4317 hoardings were removed and 3,37,890 trees were pruned to reduce the damage caused by them.

19 teams of NDRF and 13 teams of SDRF were deployed across the state. The security of Jakhau, Mundra, Kandla and Mandvi ports was also ensured. These ports are an important part of the country’s cargo and logistics. In view of the cyclone, the activities of the ports were stopped and the laborers were taken to different shelter homes.

Chief Minister of Gujarat constantly monitoring

District Administration, State Government, Central Government along with Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, BSF and all central agencies were also made part of the meetings. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel chaired nine meetings to review preparedness, while Home Minister Amit Shah chaired two. Shah also conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas on Saturday and also met pregnant women, children and farmers at the shelter home.

About 4000 houses were damaged, 707 children were born

Around 1,08,208 people were evacuated and shifted to nine districts. As per official records, around 4000 houses have been damaged and efforts have begun to help people rebuild them. An official said that around 649 roads have been affected, 624 are operational and tree removal work is underway on 25 roads. Around 1,152 pregnant women were shifted to safer medical centers in view of the cyclone. Of these, 707 women gave birth to their children in medical centres.

Cattle were also worried

The government was also worried about the cattle in view of this cyclone. Kutch district alone has more than two lakh cattle and most of them are in the coastal areas. The official said that due to the threat of cyclone, we had to take them to higher areas and arrange for their fodder. They had to be kept in open places and also had to explain to the people. IMD’s central team gave timely inputs related to the cyclone to all agencies and officials.

No one was killed in this storm, but hundreds of houses have been damaged which will have to be rebuilt. Kutch has seen many calamities in the past from earthquake to cyclone and once again the people here will have to stand up again showing courage. Officials said the storm caused extensive financial losses to the power company, with 5,120 power poles damaged. The work of restoring the transmission will start soon.

Electricity will be restored by June 20

Amit Shah has said that by June 20, electricity will be restored in the entire cyclone affected area. Power was lost in at least 4,600 villages, but power supply was restored in 3,580 villages. About 4,000 houses were damaged and efforts have begun to help people rebuild them.

(also input from PTI)

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