A total of 33 teams have been earmarked by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to undertake relief and rescue operations in Gujarat and Maharashtra ahead of the expected landfall of cyclone Biparjoy near the Jakhau port in Kutch district, officials said.
While 18 NDRF teams have been placed in Gujarat, one has been stationed in neighbouring Diu in the newly formed Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. Diu is encircled by Gir Somnath and Amreli districts of Gujarat in the north and by the Arabian Sea from three sides.
In the neighbouring Maharashtra, out of the total 14 NDRF teams, five have been deployed in Mumbai while the rest have been kept on standby, the officials said. Each of these teams have about 35-40 personnel and they are equipped with tree and pole cutters, electric saws, inflatable boats and basic medicines and relief items, they said.
Biparjoy is expected to make landfall on Thursday evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Biparjoy, pronounced Biporjoy, is a name given by Bangladesh and in Bangla it means disaster. The naming of cyclones by various countries is undertaken as per the protocol issued by the World Meteorological Organisation.