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Ahead of cyclone Biparjoy making landfall later today, the Licensed Service Areas (LSA) - Gujarat under the Department of Telecommunications has allowed immediate portability of mobile telecommunication services for users in the cyclone-hit districts of Gujarat.
The Gujarat government in a statement said, the LSA-Gujarat has arranged real-time mobile portability for users across telecom operators. “In the possible cyclone-affected regions of Gujarat, if there is no service or temporarily disrupted mobile service, a user can manually select any other operator. This facility has been arranged specially for the possible cyclone-affected regions of Gujarat, to enable citizens to stay connected to a mobile network,” said the statement.
With this facility, which has been enabled for the districts of Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Junagadh till the midnight of June 17, users can manually select an alternate service provider by going to settings, selecting their sim cards and manually choosing the operator.
The main private mobile service providers in the state are Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone, besides public sector BSNL.
Also read: Weather report. Cyclone Biparjoy: Met dept issues red alert for coastal Gujarat as winds intensify
On its preparedness for the cyclone, Vodafone Idea Ltd. (Vi) said, “We have also collaborated with other Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for testing Intra Circle Roaming (ICR). Through our partnerships with all stakeholders and Government agencies, we have prepared to ensure stable telecom connectivity during the cyclone, to let people stay connected with their loved ones.”
It added, “Proactively, we have ensured sufficient fuel supply at our sites across all locations, and stocking at strategic locations, for use in an emergency. Spare mobile DGs and other critical equipment part has been arranged and kept ready at key locations in 7 districts for faster restoration in case of the potential impact on the network infrastructure. We have also readied the Cell on Wheels (COWs) for movement in case there is need for restoration of critical sites that may be get impacted. Vi has allocated additional manpower resources and vehicles in Dwarka, Kutch and Jamnagar districts, to manage any emergency situation. “
Also read: Passenger safety. Cyclone Biparjoy: Western Railway cancels 7 more trains as a precautionary measure
The administration has shifted 47,113 people to safety from low-lying areas in districts that may see the impact of the Biparjoy cyclone.
In its ‘Red Message’ released at 16.30 on June 14, the Met Department said the very severe cyclone Biparjoy has remained “practically stationary during the past six hours and lay centred about 280 km west south-west of Jakhau Port.” However, the cyclone is very likely to move nearly northeastwards and cross the Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port by the evening of June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph.”
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