Cyclone Vayu: 3 lakh people evacuated, 70 trains cancelled, flight operations suspended

New Delhi, June 12: Efforts to keep damages to a minimum and ascertain that there no lives are lost due to Cyclone Vayu, which pass over Gujarat coast on Thursday, are underway in full swing. The Centre is in constant touch with states and teams of the Army, the Air Force, and the NDRF have been deployed to assist state authorities in rescue operations.

Gujarat has evacuated about 3 lakh people and Diu has evacuated over 10,000 people from low lying areas to safer places, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

The Railways has cancelled 70 trains and will short terminate 28 others due to Cyclone Vayu, the Western Railways said. According to the IMD, Vayu has intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and it is nearing the Gujarat coast.

"Considering the alertness for Cyclone Vayu over Gujarat, the Western Railway has decided to fully cancel operation of 70 mainline trains, while 28 other mainline trains will be short terminated with partial cancellation as a precautionary measure in the cyclone prone areas. In addition to this, various safety and security precautions are also being taken by the Western Railway for train passengers of these prone areas under the jurisdiction of WR -- Veraval, Okha, Porbandar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj and Gandhidham," the railways said in a latest bulletin.

The Airports Authority of India on Wednesday announced that flight operations will remain suspended at five airports in Gujarat for 24 hours from midnight on Wednesday in order to minimise the damage to airport infrastructure.

Three special evacuation trains were run in Rajkot Division, Bhavnagar division and Veraval on Wednesday to evacuate passengers of coastal areas

Veraval-Amreli Passenger, Amreli-Junagadh, Delvada-Veraval are some of the trains that have been cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday.

The first special train ran from Okha at 6 pm on Wednesday for Rajkot with 11 coaches and the second special train with 20 coaches ran from Okha to Ahmedabad at 8.05 pm. The third special train will run from Veraval to Ahmedabad with 11 coaches at 8 pm, Wednesday.

The state government has launched a massive evacuation exercise to shift about three lakh people from low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions. The cyclone is expected to hit the Gujarat coast on Thursday morning, but several parts along the Maharashtra and Goa coast have been witnessing strong winds and rains.

OneIndia news with PTI inputs