Gujarat, Maharashtra brace for cyclone, deploy NDRF

GANDHINAGAR: With Gujarat bracing for a cyclone, which is expected to hit the southern parts between June 3 and 4, collectors of each district have been asked to evacuate people, including fishermen, salt pan workers and those working in low-lying areas, by Tuesday noon while ensuring proper social distancing and hygiene. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a depression formed in the east central Arabian sea is likely to become a deep depression over the next 12 hours and further intensify into a cyclonic formation and move over Maharashtra and Gujarat on June 3.Even as the state battles the Covid scourge, chief minister Vijay Rupani held a high-level meeting on Monday to review the measures taken to handle the cyclone amid the pandemic.Rupani told the media later that according to the IMD, the formation is likely to cause wind speeds of 90-100km/hr along with heavy rains across Daman, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Dang and Bharuch in South Gujarat and Bhavnagar and Amreli in coastal Saurashtra region.Rupani said the state government has deployed 10 NDRF and 5 SDRF teams to handle the crisis. While the districts have already been put on high alert, the Covid hospitals have been asked to ensure adequate alternative electricity supply arrangements as cyclones are known to uproot electricity poles. A 24-hour control room to monitor the situation has already been set up in Gandhinagar.Meanwhile, The Maharashtra government on Monday sounded an alert in Mumbai and neighbouring districts.

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