Gujarat continues to remain on alert even though it is almost clear Cyclone Vayu is unlikely to make a landfall in the state. The cyclone, which changed course, is expected to just touch a couple of coastal areas on Thursday afternoon and head towards Oman Friday morning.
Additional chief secretary Pankaj Kumar told media persons in Gandhinagar on Thursday that Gujarat is still on alert mode and all precautionary measures that have been taken will continue till Friday night. Among the precautionary measures also include closure of five airports in Kutch and Saurashtra region. These include Porbandar and Jamnagar airports. The bus services to the 10 coastal areas likely to be affected will remain suspended and so do the train services.
Western Railway PRO Pradeep Sharma said that 70 trains, inward and outward, from Kutch and Saurashtra regions have been cancelled and 28 others have been short terminated.
The Western Railway is running special relief trains to supply essential commodities to the areas that could be affected and also take people to safer places. People have also been taken to safety by state transport buses.
Cyclone Vayu is expected to touch Dwarka around 3pm on Thursday. High tides are being observed near Dwarka and Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Asia's largest ship breaking yard. Workers in various yards have been moved to safer places in a bid to prevent any human loss. Work in the yard has been stopped.
Various parts of Gujarat have received light to heavy rainfall. Five persons have already lost lives due to pre-cyclonic conditions in different parts of the state.
Sea waters have entered a couple of villages in Navsari taluka of South Gujarat. With support from the Army and National Disaster Response Force, more than 3.5 lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas of the state .
The state government has made arrangements for food packets. Ministers of the Vijay Rupani-led government have been given charge of the districts that are likely to be affected.
