Evacuation process from coastal areas of Gujarat on

Ahmedabad: Authorities on Tuesday shifted 21,000 people from coastal areas to temporary shelters two days before powerful cyclone Biparjoy's expected landfall near Jakhau port in Gujarat's Kutch district.

An official said several NDRF and SDRF teams are on standby. He said the evacuation process was still underway and all the targeted population will be shifted to safer places by this evening. The cyclone has "extensive damaging potential" and is likely to impact Gujarat's Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts the most, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The state government is aiming to evacuate people within 10 km of the coast, the official said, adding so far one fatality related to the cyclone has been recorded. "We have already started evacuating people residing near the coast who are likely to be affected the most during the landfall.

So far, various district administrations have shifted nearly 21,000 people to temporary shelters. The evacuation process is still on and all the targeted population will be shifted by today evening to safer places,"