Cyclone Biparjoy: Trail of destruction in Gujarat coast, over 20 people injured, power outage in 940 villages

As per officials, at least 22 people were injured, while hundreds of trees got uprooted due to strong winds, damaging the power supply in as many as 940 villages, and low-lying areas near the sea were flooded.

Relief Commissioner Alok Pandey said as many as 20 electricity poles have fallen and 524 trees have fallen over 900 villages of Kutch and Saurashtra.

He informed that a maximum of 23 trees have fallen in Dwarka and no casualty has been reported yet.

He added that a total of 23 animals have died due to Cyclonic storm Biparjoy.

The Kutch region is still reeling under the fury of Biparjoy as the gusty winds and rain continued on Friday morning, sweeping across this border district.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cyclone Biparjoy has weakened into a cyclonic storm and will further turn into a depression over south Rajasthan on Friday.

IMD Director Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, "Cyclone Biporjoy moved northeastwards and crossed the Saurashtra-Kutch adjoining Pakistan coast close to the Jakhau port, Gujarat.

"The category has changed from a very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS) to a severe cyclonic storm (SCS). There may be heavy rains in Rajasthan on June 16."

The IMD has predicted that Cyclone Biparjoy will continue to impact the regional weather for the next 24-48 hours, triggering extremely heavy rains over parts of Northern Gujarat and Southern Rajasthan.

After the weakening of the cyclonic storm, Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said, "There have been no casualties due to cyclone Biparjoy as of now in the Kachchh district".

He added that road clearance work is underway in many parts of the coastal districts.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over the phone on Thursday night and enquired about the situation in the state following the landfall of powerful cyclone 'Biparjoy'.

The Prime Minister also sought to know the steps taken by the state administration for the safety of wild animals, especially the lions in the Gir forest.