Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said an action plan is being put in place to tackle medical and health emergencies. Mandavia said this after reviewing the preparatory measures being taken by the Centre and Gujarat administration on Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ with Rushikesh Ganeshbhai Patel, the Gujarat health minister at Bhuj in Gujarat.
The union minister has assured the Centre’s assistance to the State, a statement said. Mandaviya said that the cyclone situation is being closely monitored in conjunction with States and regional offices of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and central medical quick response teams were kept on standby.
The union minister further said that shelter homes are being set up with arrangements for rations and meals.
Earlier today Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a review meeting on the preparedness for cyclone ‘Biparjoy’. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and MPs from eight likely affected districts in the state, which the cyclone could impact, virtually participated in the meeting.
The extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Cyclone Biparjoy’ weakened today into a very severe cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said adding that it is expected to cross Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Kutch regions on June 15.
Six multi-disciplinary Central Quick Response Medical Teams pooled in from the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and Safdarjung Hospital Delhi, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi), AIIMS (Jodhpur) and AIIMS (Nagpur), are kept ready to be mobilised in the event of any requirement for providing emergency care and services, according to a statement.
Besides, the statement said that teams from NIMHANS, Bengaluru are also on standby to provide psychosocial care and aid to any affected population.
The Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) in all States have been tasked to conduct post-disaster disease surveillance through the State or district surveillance units for timely detection of any disease outbreak of any epidemic-prone diseases in the aftermath of cyclone.
In case of any logistic requirement by the States, HLL Lifecare Ltd. has been tasked with supply of the same, the statement said.
IMD Director Manorama Mohanty today in an update regarding the movement of Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea said, “The Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm has weakened into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm last night around 11:30 pm. It was moving with a speed of 10 kmph mostly north-northwesterly, and the movement will continue near northerly till 14th morning. After that, it will move north-northeastwards. It is likely to cross the Katch coast near Mandvi to Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakkau (Gujarat) port”, she said.
Wind and rainfall can be expected over the affected districts from today onwards, she said.
“With the impact of the cyclone and its outer band – Heavy to Very Heavy and even extremely heavy rainfall is likely over the coastal districts of Saurashtra-Katch from today onwards. Wind will be very strong, a wind warning has been issued. The sea conditions will be very rough till the morning of June 14th.
Sea conditions will range between high to phenomenal during June 15 and after that the conditions will vary between rough to very rough, she said.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra also warned of increasing wind speeds across and off the coasts of Gujarat over the next two days. He said that the wind speeds in the coastal districts of Gujarat until Kutch are expected to go upto 65-75 kmph tomorrow and around 125-135 kmph on Thursday due to the approaching Cyclone Biparjoy.
“The wind speed is picking up in Porbandar, Devbhoomi Dwarka districts upto Kachchh, to go up to 65-75 kmph tomorrow and on 15th June, wind speed in Dwarka, Jamnagar, Kachchh and Morbi districts of Gujarat will be around 125-135 kmph and gusting to 150 kmph. It could have extensive damaging potential”, warned the IMD Director General.
Sumit Thakur the chief public relations officer (CPRO) of Western Railway said that till now 69 trains have been cancelled in view of the cyclone.
“Today or tomorrow cyclone is going to hit in Gujarat seashore. Western Railway has prepared for it and our senior officers are also there. At stations we have deployed our senior officers and we have stored the materials which can be used when a cyclone will hit Gujarat,” he said.
The railway CPRO said that wind speed is being monitored and station masters have been instructed to regulate or stop trains when the wind velocity exceeds 60 kmph.
“We are continuously putting the information and also issuing the press advisory and we have also issued the toll-free no. from which people can contact us.
Indian Army said it has also prepared itself to provide succour to locals post the landfall of the cyclone in Gujarat.
The flood relief columns have been rehearsed and kept ready at Bhuj, Jamnagar, Gandhidham, Dharangdhra, Vadodara and Gandhinagar as well as at forward locations at Naliya, Dwarka and Amreli, a statement said.
The Army authorities have also jointly planned the relief operations with civil administration as well as NDRF. The interaction has given all agencies involved in Disaster Management a platform to share their best practices and gain from each other. Representatives of Indian Army also attended the meeting chaired by the chief minister and pledged total support during the time of crisis.
The resources have also been made available from neighbouring Rajasthan as well to ensure minimisation of any loss due to the gusty winds and heavy rainfall.
Gujarat’s Commissioner of Relief Alok Kumar Pandey said that a total of 12 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed in many parts of the state including Kutch, Porbandar, Junagadh, Jamnagar and Devbhumi Dwarka.
He said that three teams that were requested from the Centre have arrived and will be kept in reserve in Rajkot, Gandhidham, Kutch.
“We’ve 12 NDRF teams and they have been deployed in Kutch, Porbandar, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Rajkot districts. Three teams were requested from Centre and they have arrived and will be kept in reserve in Rajkot, Gandhidham, Kutch,” said Alok Kumar Pandey, Relief Commissioner,” said Alok Kumar Pandey, Relief Commissioner.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD), on Monday, issued an orange alert to the coasts of Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat because of Cyclone Biparjoy’s trajectory towards the coasts of Gujarat and Pakistan. The cyclone has since then weakened from an Extremely Severe Cyclone Storm (ESCS) to a Very Severe Cyclone Storm (VSCS).
IMD’s latest Twitter update about the orange alert reads, “Cyclone Warning for Saurashtra and Kutch Coasts: Orange Message. VSCS BIPARJOY at 1130IST of today about 290km WSW of Devbhumi Dwarka, 320km WSW of Porbandar, 320km SW of Jakhau Port, 330km SW of Naliya. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) AROUND evening of 15th June as VSCS.”
