In the aftermath of cyclone Biparjoy, Gujarat grapples with destruction 

Cyclone Biparjoy caused widespread damage in Gujarat’s Kutch-Saurashtra region as it made landfall late on June 15, 2023. Hundreds of villages were left without power supply while thousands of trees were uprooted due to the strong winds and heavy rain.

Cyclone Biparjoy caused widespread damage in Gujarat’s Kutch-Saurashtra region as it made landfall late on Thursday. Hundreds of villages were left without power supply while thousands of trees were uprooted due to the strong winds and heavy rain.

Two deaths were reported and 23 people were injured while more than 100 animals died. However, authorities said the deaths had occurred before the landfall incident and were unrelated. 

On Friday, over 1,000 teams were racing to restore power supply and clear roads in eight affected districts. People shifted to temporary shelters began returning to their homes. More than one lakh people had been housed in around 1,500 temporary shelters in the State.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a series of meetings in Gandhinagar to review the situation on the ground and directed the State administration to carry out a survey regarding the damage and restore power, roads and movement of people on war footing. He also said those shifted to shelters would receive compensation as per norms.

Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat’s Kutch district. Even after landfall, the coastal districts continued to witness strong winds, heavy rainfall and rough sea conditions on Friday morning, impacting infrastructure and causing uprooting of trees. 

A State government release said 1,127 teams were working across eight districts - Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Rajkot and Porbandar - to restore power in the aftermath of the cyclone. As many as 51 teams have been deployed to maintain operations of 714 substations in these areas, it added.

According to State Relief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey, the cyclone caused power outages in 1,092 villages, knocked down 5,120 electricity poles, and left 186 transformers and 2,502 feeders were damaged in the Saurashtra-Kutch region.