The noise of the winds was so much that it was becoming very difficult to hear the voice of Hariman Bhai of Kutch. There was so much network problem in the phone that it was not possible to talk. Hariman Bhai Rabaria, a resident of Suthri village in Nakhatara taluka of West Kutch, while surviving intermittent rains, talks to amarujala.com while being displaced ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Biparjoy. Hariman Bhai says that we do not know how our life will be settled again. Leaving the land of our forefathers, we have come to a place where we never had to come. Leaving our home, business and water, we have reached Bhindayara in Kutch with the hope that maybe after the normalcy of the situation, we can reach back to our village. Being emotional, they say that they have brought as much stuff as they could from their home, leaving the rest there. Amarujala.com spoke to people living in many areas of Gujarat over the phone about Biparjoy hitting the seashore on Thursday evening.
Talking to amarujala.com over the phone, the residents of Suthri village in Nakhatara tehsil of West Kutch were shifted to Bhindayara town, about 80 km from there, some time back. Hariman Bhai, who reached Bhindayara with his family, says that he has come here with his entire family. He says that he used to sell fish in Bera village and then settled in this village. 51-year-old Hariman says that such storms have come in the sea areas, but the fear that has been created about Biparjoy has never been seen till date. He says that he does not know when he will be able to reach back to his home now. Even if they reach, the house built by their forefathers would have been saved or the ocean waves would have taken it away. The way this sea storm has instilled fear in their hearts, they will now think many times about going to those areas again and settling down. However, he also says that how can anyone leave the lands of his forefathers like this. Being emotional, he says that in front of his eyes, he has left his home to ruin the settled household.
Silence in the entire area from shops to markets
Ishaq Abdullah, a Pathan living in Kutch, says that the situation in his area is very bad. He says that even after being several kilometers away from the sea coast, the wind speed in the area is still so high that people in the villages, cities and towns here are not coming out of their homes. All shops and markets in Nakhatara taluka of West Kutch remained completely closed. The effect of rain is also so much that many kutcha houses there have been completely destroyed. Ishaq Abdullah says that the effect of the storm is continuously falling on pucca houses as well. He says that till date he has never seen such horror of a storm. It is raining continuously in the area. Not only have the people here been completely prevented from going to the sea areas, but each person has been displaced from each house and taken to a distance of 80 to 90 kilometers. He says that according to what we have been told by the administration, it will take at least a week for everything to return to normal.
Some left with their old mother and some with their children.
Arikhana and Akrimoti of Kutch are also villages situated on the sea coast. Many people living in this village have been displaced to Bhuj, about 150 km away from there. Deven Nagariya, a resident of Akrimoti, says that he has come to Bhuj with his entire family at his relative’s house. Deven says that he has left his ancestral home with his mother. He says that the administration has told all those people to go back to their villages and homes after the situation becomes normal within the next one week. But Deven says that according to the information he is getting now, the road leading to his village has been gifted to the sea. Due to the strong winds, trees have fallen on their houses and it is unlikely that they will be able to go back to their homes.
In Dwarka also people vacated their houses
In Gujarat’s Dwarka, the residential areas situated on the sea coast have been completely evacuated. Chetan Jhungi, who lives here, says that he is currently going to Rajkot with his family. There is so much panic in the area about the storm that the entire area was already evacuated as soon as the information was received. He says that the circumstances have become such that he has to leave his business house and move towards a new city. Chetan says that along with him many of his neighbors have also shifted to nearby cities leaving their entire homes. He says that when he will come back now, arrangements will be made according to the orders received from the authorities. Dinesh Mandaviya, who is going from Dwarka to Jamnagar to his sister’s house, says that till date, such panic has not been seen before due to any sea storm. They say that those people live on the seashore, but no one ever thought that such a situation would arise. But even after all these circumstances, he believes that everything is being known now in time, that’s why all those people are going to safe places.
Displaced people got shelter in Bhuj
Gani Kumbar, a resident of Bhuj, says that the situation is not very good even in Bhuj. During a conversation with amarujala.com, Kumbar says that due to the storm coming in the area of Kutch, it is raining continuously here. Strong winds are blowing and people from villages and towns along the sea coast of Kutch including Dwarka, Porbandar, Mandvi have been displaced. He says that about 40 thousand people have been displaced so far. Many of his acquaintances have either come to him or have to go to nearby areas and stay in the arrangements made by the government. Apart from this, the responsible organizations have also made arrangements for people’s stay and food at the local level.
