3,233 shifted to safer places in Surat, 40 villages on alert

Surat: A total 3,233 people were shifted to safer locations from coastal areas of Surat city and district on Monday as cyclone Tauktae was expected to pour heavy rain with strong winds.
Residents of 40 villages in the coastal area in Surat district were alerted by the district administration.
Teams of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) visited residences in Dumas, Bhimpore and Sultanabad villages to create awareness among the locals. Those living in weak structures like mud houses were shifted to government school buildings in these villages.
“Apart from coastal areas, our teams surveyed weak structures and residents were shifted to safer locations in Udhna and Vadod area. Some structures in these areas can suffer damage in cyclonic conditions,” said Bachhanidhi Pani, municipal commissioner.

Till Monday evening, incidents of uprooting of five trees in Pandesara, Rander, Haripura and Nanpura were reported. No one suffered injury in these incidents, according to fire officials.
Gallery of an old building was removed from a closed building in Pirchhadi Road of Haripura. “The building is old and closed. The gallery was weak and it could have collapsed in heavy rain or wind,” said a fire official.

One team each of NDRF and SDRF were on standby in Surat. One was stationed at Suvali near Hazira while another at Olpad. The rescue team surveyed the nearby coastal areas.

“No major incident due to cyclone impact has been reported. Those shifted to shelters have been requested to stay there till the situation normalizes,” said Dr Dhaval Patel, collector, Surat.