‘Calamity threat passes, but state on high alert’

PORBANDAR/AHMEDABAD: Very severe cyclonic storm Vayu, which was projected to hit the Saurashtra coast on Thursday, veered away to the west and is unlikely to make a landfall over Gujarat, but panic buttons remained pressed as torrential rain, furious winds and roaring waves threatened to batter the coastal districts.Vayu was predicted to make a landfall between Dwarka and Veraval on Thursday afternoon, but it changed course overnight and moved further northwestwards, parallel to the coast, and was headed in the direction of Oman.Though the velocity of the cyclone reduced from 135-145 kmph to around 90-100kmph, it remains ferocious enough to flatten thatched houses, weak structures and disrupt power supply.Jayanta Sarkar, director, IMD, Gujarat, said, "It will skirt along the Saurashtra coast with a wind speed of 90-100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in the low-lying areas of the coastal districts of Gir-Somnath, Junagadh, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Devbhoomi Dwarka in addition to Diu."Vayu lay around 120 km west-southwest of Veraval and some 130km south of Porbandar on Thursday evening. The cyclone will move in the north-northwest direction for some time, and will later move northwestwards, said Sarkar.The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has decided to reopen its airports at Kandla and Keshod from Thursday-Friday midnight followed by Bhavnagar reopening at 6am and then Diu and Porbandar from 10am on Friday. The state-run airport operator took this decision after reviewing the status of its airports in Gujarat after Cyclone Vayu and taking into consideration met reports.CM Vijay Rupani told reporters that a major calamity was averted with the cyclone veering away towards Oman, but the state will remain on 'high alert' till Friday.Additional chief secretary, revenue, Pankaj Kumar said, "The storm is spread across 900km. The risk is still there and severe winds and huge waves can cause damage in areas along the coastline."Meanwhile, strong winds and rain left life paralysed in Saurashtra. The roaring waves rising as high as 12-15 feet considerably damaged a 150-year-old Shiva temple on the Porbandar coast.Though people have been strictly advised to stay away from the seashore, police had a tough time at many places to convince some adventurous residents to push back.Power supply was disrupted in nearly 560 villages of Saurashtra and south Gujarat as the feeder lines got damaged. The Western Railways has cancelled 77 trains and short-terminated 33 others.There was widespread rainfall in the coastal districts of Saurashtra region on Thursday which expected to continue on Friday. Heavy rainfall was reported in Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Porbandar, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Jamnagar, in addition to the union territory of Diu. According to official data, 12 talukas reported more than 25 mm inch rain.