Biparjoy: Very severe cyclonic storm set to hit Kutch

AHMEDABAD/RAJKOT: With Cyclone Biparjoy expected to dramatically tilt eastwards and head towards Gujarat, the India Meteorological Department on Sunday said the storm was likely to make landfall between Mandvi in Kutch district and Karachi in Pakistan around noon on June 15 as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with winds gusting to 145kmph.
So far it was believed that the cyclone - which intensified into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm" over the east-central Arabian Seaon Sunday afternoon - would head northwards towards Pakistan.If the forecast is accurate, this would be thesecond major cyclone to hit the Gujarat coast in two years, after Tauktae had made landfall near Una in May 2021 and had caused widespread damage. However, loss of lives was minimised due to timely movement of people.

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel convened a high-level meeting on Sunday to reviewed preparedness and decided to send senior ministers to districts most likely to be affected.
About 1,500 people were evacuated from Devbhoomi Dwarka and Kutch districts from areas close to the coast as part of precautions that the local administration has begun to take. Meanwhile, a yellow alert for gusty winds was issued for Mumbai and Thane on Sunday.

Two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and several State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams, fire and emergency services and police personnel have started to be deployed in the coastal areas of Gujarat, after the IMD projected that Cyclone Biparjoy was likely to make a sharp eastward turn on Wednesday and make landfall in the Kutch region on the following day.
The state government would also set up shelter homes for the residents of coastal areas up to 10km from the sea as high tides are likely to impact low-lying areas, said Alok Pandey, state relief commissioner, after the meeting with CM.
The IMD has issued red warning for very high winds and heavy rainfall at some places in Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts for June 15 till the morning of June 16, and an orange alert for neighbouring districts.
Besides, with the cyclone intensifying in the east-central Arabian Sea on Sunday, IMD also issued yellow alert for Mumbai and Thane, indicating that gusty winds were expected at isolated places. The arrival of the monsoon in Maharashtra was also declared.
In Gujarat, the ministers have been asked to work in close cooperation with the local administration for mitigation and relief.