Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah held a meeting through VC to review the preparedness for Cyclone “Biparjoy”. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel, Union Ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Shri Parshottam Rupala, several Ministers of Government of Gujarat, MPs, MLAs, Chief Secretary and District Magistrates virtually participated in the meeting. Union Home Secretary, Director General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Member Secretary, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and senior officers of Ministry of Home Affairs were also present in the meeting.
The Director General, IMD briefed the Union Home Minister about the current status of extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Biparjoy’ over eastcentral Arabian Sea. He said that it is very likely to move nearly northward till 14th morning, then move north-northeastwards and cross Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by noon of 15th June as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel apprised the Union Home Minister about the preparedness and measures being taken by the local administration to protect the population residing in the expected path of the cyclonic storm. He said that fishermen have been advised not to venture out into the sea and those at sea have been called back to safe berth. A total of 21,595 boats, 27 ships and 24 large ships have been parked so far. A list of sensitive villages has been prepared for the purpose of evacuation. Patel informed that 450 hospitals have been identified in the areas likely to be affected by the storm and the supply of essential medicines has been ensured. Adequate shelters have also been arranged and 597 teams have been deployed to ensure power supply. 18 teams of NDRF and 12 teams of SDRF have also been deployed.
