Kutch limping back to normalcy in cyclone Biparjoy aftermath; most roads cleared

Shops and business establishments in Gujarat’s Kutch district opened shutters on June 17 in signs of return to normalcy as authorities stepped up efforts to restore electricity in several towns and hundreds of villages battered by cyclone Biparjoy.

Shops and business establishments in Gujarat’s Kutch district opened shutters on June 17 in signs of return to normalcy as authorities stepped up efforts to restore electricity in several towns and hundreds of villages battered by cyclone Biparjoy.

The weather system, which hit the landmass near Jakhau port as a very severe cyclonic storm on Thursday evening, turned into a deep depression and will further lose steam to become a depression, the India Meteorological Department said in its latest update.

However, heavy to very heavy rains will likely continue in many northern districts of the State, it said.

Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the cyclone-affected areas of Jakhau and Mandvi and hold a review in Bhuj with those managing relief and rescue operations, said officials.

It is not raining in Kutch and the wind speed has also significantly reduced after the cyclone passed through the area, they said.

While the administration has cleared uprooted trees from most of the roads, it is working to restore electricity in towns like Bhuj and Mandvi and many villages, they said.

To restore electricity, 1,127 teams are working in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Morbi, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Rajkot and Porbandar, the State Government said in a release on Friday, adding that the forest department teams removed 581 fallen trees from the roads.