Gujarat begins evacuation as cyclone 'Vayu' inches closer

Ahmedabad: As cyclone 'Vayu' advances towards the Gujarat coast, the state government launched a massive evacuation exercise to shift about three lakh people from low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions, officials said Wednesday.

According to the latest weather information, the cyclone has intensified into a "very severe cyclonic storm" and is located around 340 km south of Gujarat's Veraval coast.

It would hit the coast near Veraval as a very severe cyclonic storm "with a wind speed of 145 to 155 kmph gusting to 170 kmph around the morning of June 13," a release issued by the meteorological department said.

The state government said the cyclone is likely to affect Kutch, Morbi, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Devbhoomi-Dwarka, Porbandar, Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Gir-Somnath districts.

People living in low-lying areas of these 10 districts are being shifted to safer places, it said.

Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Tuesday appealed to people to cooperate in the evacuation process so that no life is lost due to the cyclone.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday advised people to follow real-time information being provided by local agencies to stay safe. See inside