PICS | Cyclone Vayu: Gujarat begins evacuation of people, Navy on standby notice

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 on Wednesday. (Twitter)

Around 36 companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are already assisting the local administration in the process. (Twitter)

Nearly 2.91 lakh people living in around 400 villages of these 10 districts. They will be provided shelter in government buildings or those owned by various trusts and NGOs. (Twitter)

P8I and IL aircraft have been kept ready to undertake search and rescue missions while the Headquarters, Offshore Defence and Advisory Group has also issued an advisory on cyclone 'Vayu' to all offshore platforms. (Twitter)

The Navy has kept its diving and rescue teams and relief material, medical teams and facilities at Indian Naval Hospital Asvini at Mumbai on standby for rendering assistance to civil authorities, as required. (Twitter)

A C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force had reached Jamnagar in Gujarat with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team. (Twitter)

Rescue teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army, Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are also in readiness. (Twitter)

As a precautionary measure, holiday has been declared in schools, colleges and 'anganwadis' (government-run women and child care centres) on June 12 and June 13 in these 10 districts. (Twitter)

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. (Twitter)

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

The Ministry of Home Affairs is in continuous touch with the state governments and the Central agencies concerned. (Twitter)

With Cyclone Vayu likely to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday, the Navy has kept itself ready to respond to any developing situation expeditiously. (Twitter)

The Army has deployed 10 columns in the coastal areas of Gujarat. It has kept 24 columns on standby and is ready to carry out the rescue and relief operations, a defence spokesperson said in a release. (Twitter)

It is very likely to move nearly northwards and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva around Veraval & Diu region as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph during the early morning of 13th June 2019: IMD (Twitter)

Do's and don'ts issued by National Disaster Management Authority on Twitter. (Twitter)

People living in low-lying areas of these 10 districts are being shifted to safer places. (Twitter)

The Coast Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force and the Border Security Force have been put on high alert. (Twitter)