Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday took stock of the armed forces' preparedness to tackle the situation arising out of Cyclone Tauktae. At a meeting attended by service chiefs of Army, Navy and IAF and Defence Secretary and DRDO chairman, Singh directed them to provide all possible assistance to the civil administration to deal with the situation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that Cyclone Tauktae will cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva between 8 pm and 11.30 pm and may cause heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated parts of the state. Extremely powerful winds with speed up to 185 kilometre per hour—enough to uproot trees and electricity poles—are also expected to hit the state.
The cyclone has already caused massive damage in Goa and Karnataka. In Karnataka, six people have been killed so far while the cyclone affected as many as 121 villages and 22 taluks.
Eleven Indian Navy Diving Teams have been kept on standby while 12 flood rescue teams and medical teams have been earmarked for immediate response and deployment. Repair and rescue teams have also been formed to undertake urgent infrastructural repairs post cyclone, if required.
"Three ships (Talwar, Tarkash and Tabar) are on standby with aid and relief material for immediate assistance to the affected areas, if required," said an official, while adding that balance ships on the western seaboard are also on standby for assistance to fishing boats and small boats stranded due to rough weather. Navy’s maritime reconnaissance aircraft on surveillance are continuously broadcasting cyclone warnings to fishermen.
The assets of the Indian Navy were pressed into service to rescue stranded crew of Indian flagged Tug ‘Coromondel Supporter XI’ off Karnataka coast. Another helicopter from Naval air station in Goa has been deployed to assist in the search of missing crew members of Indian flagged Tug Alliance.
The IAF has deployed its aircraft to transport personnel and tonnes of load of NDRF to Ahmedabad. On Sunday, the IAF had deployed two C-130J and one An-32 aircraft for transportation of 167 personnel and 16.5 tonnes of load of NDRF from Kolkata to Ahmedabad. Another C-130J and two An-32 aircraft carried 121 NDRF personnel and 11.6 tonnes of load from Vijayawada to Ahmedabad for the same purpose. Two C-130J aircraft transported 110 personnel and 15 tonnes of cargo for NDRF from Pune to Ahmedabad.
In addition, two Army columns (close to 80 men in a single column) have been mobilised from Jamnagar for Diu along with the Engineer Task Force. Two more columns staged forward to Junagadh for immediate response in case need arises. The Army is in constant touch with the civil administration.
Army officials claim that with the impending landfall of the extremely severe cyclonic storm in the coastal areas of Gujarat, the Army units and formations have prepared themselves with substantial teams along with elements of communication and engineer task forces to provide relief and all kind of assistance.
"Since the maximum impact is likely to be in Saurashtra, which includes the UT of Diu, 10 integrated teams have been deployed to give assistance to the civil authority in Diu. Ten teams have been sent to Junagarh area. Others are ready to move on a short notice of the state administration after analysis of situation as it builds up," an officer said.
The GOC (General Officer Commanding) of the Army Division located in Ahmedabad attended a coordination meeting chaired byGujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and has assured all support.
Simultaneously, the Indian Army is also providing all possible assistance for creating power back up and making preparations for other contingencies at COVID Hospitals in the affected regions including Dhanvantri COVID Hospital in Ahmedabad.
