Cyclone Tauktae: About 1.5 lakh people being shifted from Gujarat’s coastal areas

Amid Covid surge in the state, the Gujarat government is leaving no stone unturned to meet the Tauktae challenge. “Very severe cyclonic storm” Tauktae is expected to make landfall in coastal Saurashtra early Tuesday morning.

About 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from the state’s coastal areas. “With the cyclone likely to affect power supply, hospitals treating Covid-19 patients have been asked to ensure power back-up. Arrangements have also been made to ensure uninterrupted generation of medical oxygen in the eight manufacturing units,” chief minister Vijay Rupani told reporters after attending a review meeting in Gandhinagar.

The meteorological department said Tauktae was likely to intensify further during the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast on Monday evening. It will cross the state’s coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (in Bhavnagar district) around early Tuesday morning. Sea condition will become “very rough to high” along and off south Gujarat coast from Monday morning and “very high to phenomenal” from Monday midnight.


The cyclone is likely to cause severe damage in Porbandar, Amreli Junagarh, Gir Somnath Botad and Bhavnagar and coastal areas of Ahmedabad. Devbhoomi Dwarka, Kutch, Jamnagar, Rajkot and Morbi, Valsad, Surart, Vadodara, Bharuch, Navsari, and Anand districts are also likely to be severely affected.

The state has also stopped the vaccination drive for two days.