Cyclone Vayu: Two-day holiday declared in schools, colleges in several parts of Gujarat

Cyclone Vayu is expected to hit the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva with wind speed up to 135 kmph on June 13. Anticipating the impact of Cyclone Vayu, the state government have declared a two-day holiday for all the schools and colleges located in several parts of Gujarat.

It is to be noted that the Gujarat has been put on alert. As a precautionary measure, two-day holiday in all the schools and colleges of Rajkot, Veraval, Somnath, Porbandar, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Kutch and Amreli have been declared. The schools and colleges will be closed on June 12 and June 13.

Also, the Indian Coast Guard, the Navy, Army, and Air Force units have also been put on standby and surveillance aircraft and helicopters are carrying out aerial surveillance. The fishermen were also warned against venturing into the sea in the next few days while ports have been directed to flag a danger signal.

In a statement, the NDRF said, "All NDRF teams are fully equipped with various types of cutting, flood rescue equipment, V-SAT & Satellite communication equipment for rescue and relief operations."

In the meantime, the Indian Air Force said, “A C-17 aircraft got airborne from New Delhi to Vijayawada, today. The aircraft is planned to airlift about 160 personnel of NDRF from Vijayawada to Jamnagar to carry out Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Response (HADR) missions for people affected by Cyclone Vayu in Gujarat.”

The precautionary measures comes hours after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that a deep depression over the Arabian Sea which brewed over the past two days has intensified into a cyclonic storm and is likely to hit the Gujarat coast on June 13 morning.

IMD’s bulletin said, “It is very likely to move nearly northward and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval and Diu region as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed 110-120 kilometres per hour gusting to 135 kilometres per hour during early morning of June 13.”

It also predicted that Cyclone Vayu will move over the east-central area and adjoining areas of the Arabian Sea on Tuesday evening with a wind speed of 90-100 kmph. However, Cyclone Vayu is likely to have a mild impact over the Lakshadweep area, Kerala, Karnataka and south Maharashtra coasts.