According to the India Meteorological Department ( IMD), Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to land on Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Kutch regions and adjoining Pakistan coasts on June 15.
The Western Railway has cancelled around 95 trains running through, originating, or terminating in Biparjoy-affected areas of Gujarat.
Bracing for the cyclone, which has intensified into a “very severe” cyclonic storm according to the IMD, 12 NDRF teams have been deployed in the western state. Yesterday, Union power minister R K Singh reviewed the preparation for power supply and quick restoration arrangements for coastal areas in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The Gujarat government has evacuated around 40,000 people residing near the coastal areas.
Fishing has been suspended in the state and fishermen have been called back. Schools have been shut Operations at most oil rigs and ports have been suspended. More than 90 trains have been cancelled. Cumulatively 30 teams of the national and state disaster response forces have been deployed.
Seven people have died in India so far due to mishaps stemming from extreme weather conditions caused by the cyclone, including rough seas and wall collapses. Yesterday, in Mumbai, three of the four boys who went missing after venturing near the choppy Arabian Sea off Mumbai’s Juhu Koliwada area were found dead. One boy is still missing.
According to the senior official from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a group of five boys from the Vakola area in suburban Santacruz (East), aged between 12 and 16 years, was pulled inside the rough sea by strong currents on Monday evening when they went near the shore. One of the five boys was rescued by local fishermen, while the remaining four went missing. On Tuesday, BMC declared three boys dead and one remains missing.
Cyclone Biparjoy is inching closer to India and Pakistan. It is expected to make landfall between Mandvi in India’s western state of Gujarat and Karachi in southern Pakistan by Thursday evening.
On Wednesday morning, the cyclonic storm laid lay centered about 280 km (174 miles) west-southwest of Gujarat’s Jakhau Port and 340 km south-southwest of Karachi.
