Cyclone Biparjoy damages power lines in Kutch, many areas plunged into darkness

Mandvi (Kutch): Cyclone Biparjoy which packed high wind speeds and brought heavy rains caused complete disruption of normal life in Gujarat's Kutch district on Thursday as trees were uprooted in large numbers, power failure was reported in many areas, and low-lying areas near the sea were flooded.

Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau as a very severe cyclonic storm around 6.30 pm on Thursday with wind speeds of 115 to 125 kmph gusting upto 140 kmph. The entire landfall will be over by midnight, the IMD said.

A total power blackout was witnessed in Mandvi town. Many trees were uprooted on Jakhau-Mandvi road as well as in Mandvi town due to the strong winds.

“No casualties have been reported so far,” district collector Amit Arora said.

“Wind speed is very high. Right now we are having rains everywhere. But the situation is under control,” he added.

“We have minor damage such as 200 electric poles have been uprooted, 250 trees are uprooted, and we have cut power supply in five tehsils as a precautionary measure,” he told reporters.

“We have shifted people to shelters from the areas which are going to be most affected by cyclone which is 10 kms from the shore. We shifted around 52,000 people to shelters. We have shifted 25,000 cattle to higher grounds too,” he said.

No major mishap had taken place so far, he said.

“This is because we have made prior arrangements to face the cyclone,” the collector added.