The Western Railway (WR) short-terminated 56 trains heading to coastal areas of Gujarat on Monday in view of powerful cyclone ‘Biparjoy’. According to a release, the Western Railway is also considering the cancellation of several trains over the next three days.
As very severe cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ moves closer to the Gujarat coast, the Western Railway is taking various measures to ensure passenger safety including setting up disaster management rooms, help desks, while the relief trains have been equipped with required medicines and are kept on alert.
The release stated that over 56 trains heading to Gandhidham, Porbandar, Veraval and Okha have been short-terminated at Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Surendranagar. The release also added that as many as 95 trains are being proposed for cancellation between June 13 to June 15 in view of cyclone Biparjoy.
Western Railway takes safety and security precautions
While talking about the preparedness and safety measures being taken by WR, the chief public relations officer (CPRO), Sumit Thakur informed that passenger trains scheduled from June 12 onwards in the vulnerable sections are being reviewed and necessary decisions will be taken as per the circumstances.
The meteorologists believe that Biparjoy is likely to hit the Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat, which means that it is likely to cover the Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Ahmedabad divisions of the Western Railway.
The release also revealed that Veraval-Junagad, Porbandar-Kanalus, Rajkot-Okha and Viramgam-Gandhidham-Bhuj sections are most vulnerable to cyclone Biparjoy and the WR has taken required safety and security precautions in these regions.
In view of the situation, WR General Manager, Ashok Kumar Misra also convened a virtual meeting with senior officials. In the meeting, Kumar reviewed the cyclone preparations and gave necessary directives on train movement including speed restrictions and cancellation of trains as a precautionary measure.
WR informed that the restriction has been imposed on inward traffic for all terminals of Ahmedabad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar divisions as well as inward and outward traffic of Double Stack Container (DSC) movement till June 16, with immediate effect.
According to the release, disaster management rooms have been set up t divisional headquarters at Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Ahmedabad as well as at the Western Railway headquarters in Mumbai. The hotlines between them have been made operational to ensure smooth functioning.
Additionally, the divisions that will bear the impact of this cyclone have been put on alert to tackle the situation with arrangements for tree-cutting equipment, DG sets, earth-moving equipment, Poclain, JCBs, utility vehicles, diesel-driven pumps, adequate fuel resources, etc.
Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ Landfall
Meanwhile, the authorities are monitoring the wind speed at five locations in the Bhavnagar division, at three spots in the Ahmedabad division and at eight sites in Rajkot on an hourly basis. The WR has also instructed the station masters to regulate or stop trains when the wind velocity exceeds 50 kmph.
According to the India Meteorological Department, cyclone Biparjoy is likely to make landfall on Thursday afternoon as a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ near the Jakhau port in Kutch district. At the time of the landfall, Biparjoy is likely to have maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour.