Cyclone Biparjoy: Kutch limps back to normalcy

An electricity pole damaged in the aftermath of Cyclone Biparjoy, in Kutch district, on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Shops and business establishments in Gujarat's Kutch district opened shutters on Saturday in signs of return to normalcy as authorities stepped up efforts to restore electricity in several towns and hundreds of villages battered by Cyclone Biparjoy. The weather system, which hit the landmass near Jakhau port as a very severe cyclonic storm on Thursday evening, turned into a deep depression and will further lose steam to become a depression, the India Meteorological Department said in its latest update.

However, heavy to very heavy rains will likely continue in many northern districts of the state, it said. Home Minister Amit Shah visited the cyclone-affected areas of Jakhau and Mandvi and held a review in Bhuj with those managing relief and rescue operations, said officials. It is not raining in Kutch and the wind speed has also significantly reduced after the cyclone passed through the area, they said.

While the administration has cleared uprooted trees from most of the roads, it is working to restore electricity in towns like Bhuj and Mandvi and many villages, they said. To restore electricity, 1,127 teams are working in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Rajkot and Porbandar, the state government said in a release on Friday, adding that the forest department teams removed 581 fallen trees from the roads.

"Deep Depression (Remnant of Cyclonic Storm Biparjoy) at 08:30 hours IST of today,17th June over Southwest Rajasthan adjoining Gujarat and Southeast Pakistan about 80 km south of Barmer and 210 km southwest of Jodhpur. To weaken into a Depression during the next 06 hours," the IMD tweeted.

Among 1,09,000 persons shifted from coastal areas to temporary shelters, there were 10,918 children, 5,070 senior citizens and 1,152 pregnant women, the government had said in a release. Several places in Rajasthan received heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours due to Cyclone Biparjoy, which moved further towards the desert state following its landfall in Gujarat, officials said on Saturday.

A rainfall of 210 mm was recorded in Mount Abu, 136 mm in Sedwa in Barmer The cyclone is in the form of deep depression in Rajasthan and will further reduce to the depression category, an official said. The rainfall activity in parts of the state will continue till Monday, he added.

1,127
Number of teams working to restore electricity

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