Authorities in Gujarat have undertaken a massive evacuation effort, relocating 50,000 individuals from coastal areas to temporary shelters in anticipation of the impending landfall of the powerful cyclone ‘Biparjoy’ near Jakhau port in the Kutch district. The Meteorological Department has reported heavy rainfall and strong winds in parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region as the cyclone advances towards the Gujarat coast.
Significant rainfall and strong winds have already hit parts of the Saurashtra-Kutch region in anticipation of the cyclone’s arrival, according to the Met Department. Khambhalia taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka district received the highest rainfall of 121 mm in the past 24 hours, followed by Dwarka (92 mm) and Kalyanpur (70 mm), as reported by the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC). Over nine talukas in Jamnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot, Porbandar, and Kutch districts experienced rainfall exceeding 50 mm during the same period.
To ensure the safety of residents, Alok Kumar Pandey, State Commissioner of Relief, confirmed the successful relocation of approximately 50,000 individuals from coastal areas to temporary shelters, with around 18,000 of them accommodated in the Kutch district. The evacuation efforts are ongoing, with the remaining 5,000 individuals set to be relocated to safer places by the evening. Multiple response teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), state road and building department, and state electricity department have been deployed across coastal districts.
The IMD has issued warnings about heavy rainfall as the cyclone approaches the Gujarat coast on June 15. Isolated places in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Jamnagar districts are expected to experience extremely heavy rains. Cyclone Biparjoy is projected to cross Saurashtra, Kutch, and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan), near Jakhau port (Gujarat), as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph, gusting up to 150 kmph.
As a result, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi, Junagadh, and other districts of Saurashtra and North Gujarat may also receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday. The IMD has further forecasted light to moderate rainfall, with heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in isolated areas over the north Gujarat districts and adjoining south Rajasthan on Friday.
The sea condition is expected to be very rough along the Saurashtra and Kutch coasts until Wednesday evening, becoming high to phenomenal until Thursday evening before returning to normal. Low-lying areas in the affected districts are likely to be inundated with a storm surge of about 2-3 meters above the astronomical tide during landfall. The Met department has cautioned that tides could reach 3-6 meters in different locations.
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