Gujarat Couple Lost 3 Houses In 3 Cyclones. What They Said On Biparjoy

Watching your meagre house collapse due to a cyclone, not once but three times, would be enough to break most people. But a couple from Gujarat's Jakhau - that has rebuilt their house each time - is undaunted by yet another cyclone, Biparjoy, that is now barrelling towards them. They told NDTV with a smile that the area has been lucky not to have suffered loss of life. 

Hawa Bai and Usman, both of whom are 70 years old, are currently in a shelter home near Jakhau along with other people who have been evacuated from areas close to the coast. "Since we don't have a pucca house, we have seen our house collapse and be blown away by cyclones in the past," said Usman

The couple, who subsist on agriculture, said they rebuilt their house every time with their income and with help from their children. They did, however, lament the impact the heavy rain has on their crops. 

Asked whether they are worried about their house collapsing again today, the couple said they will work as labourers and gather money to construct it again. 

On whether they were worried that Biparjoy would be worse than the three cyclones they have seen in the past, they said they are not afraid. "The cyclone will not affect us much. This will also pass," said Usman. 

"We have been lucky that, while people have lost their houses, the area has not seen loss of life in the past," he added. 

The area near Jakhau, where the couple live, is where Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall. 

So far, nearly one lakh people have been moved to temporary shelters in eight coastal districts of Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Devbhumi Dwarka, Junagadh, Porbandar and Gir Somnath, the government has said.