Bhuj / Ahmedabad, 17 June (Hindustan Times). Expressing satisfaction over the relief and rescue work done by Biparjoy cyclone in Gujarat, Union Minister for Cooperation and Home Affairs Amit Shah lauded the state government. Along with this, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that till one o’clock in the night he alerted about small things. Shah said that in dealing with the cyclonic storm, this cyclonic storm could be faced with minimum losses due to the efforts of the Chief Minister to the Patwari of the village, common people to the Prime Minister and the elected public representatives.
Earlier, Union Minister Shah held a review meeting in hybrid mode with state government ministers, officials, various government agencies at the Bhuj collector’s office. Talking to reporters in the evening, he said that there were many apprehensions since the news of Biparjoy cyclone came on June 6, but how team work can be done to protect lives and property of people by using timely information with awareness. This is a classic example of it. When the cyclone made landfall with a wind speed of 140 kilometers per hour, despite not losing a single life, it gives satisfaction and joy to the mind. Along with this, he congratulated the entire team including the Chief Minister for this. Shah told that only 47 people have been injured in the cyclone, not even a single one has suffered permanent disability. There 234 animals have died.
Will get everyone back home by June 20
Shah said that as per the protocol, whenever the wind speed exceeds 50 km per hour, the electricity there is disconnected. During this period, power supply has been restored in 1600 villages out of which electricity was cut off. By the evening of June 20, the power system would be restored in all the remaining villages. Apart from this, by the evening of June 19, all the displaced will be sent to their homes.
Big loss could have been avoided due to prior planning
Shah said that due to the continuous monitoring of the central and state government, the rescue work was done before the disaster. Under this, 1206 pregnant women were identified from the affected areas and taken to the hospital and taken care of. 707 successful deliveries were done within 3 days. This is a great example of sensitivity. 1 lakh 8 thousand 200 people were evacuated to safe places even before the storm hit. 73000 animals were taken to safer places. Efforts were made to stop 3 lakh 27 thousand trees from falling by pre-trimming them. Apart from this, about one lakh fishermen in 21 thousand 585 boats were pulled out from the sea even before the storm. In this, the State Police worked shoulder to shoulder with 19 NDRF, 13 SDRF and 2 Reserve Police Force. The workers making salt were also made safe before the storm. State Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Spokesperson Minister Hrishikesh Patel, Chief Secretary Rajkumar and others were present in the press conference.
