Cyclone Biparjoy intensifies, likely to make landfall in Gujarat

Cyclone Biparjoy – which turned into an extremely severe storm on Sunday – is likely to intensify further and make its landfall in Gujarat’s Kutch.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued an alert for Saurashtra and Kutch coasts in Gujarat.

Here are the latest updates on Cyclone Biparjoy:

The IMD in its bulletin on Sunday night issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Gujarat due to Cyclone Biparjoy. “Cyclone Alert for Saurashtra & Kutch Coast: Yellow Message. ESCS BIPARJOY over east-central Arabian Sea, at 1730 IST of 11th June near lat 18.6N & long 67.7E, Likely to cross between Mandvi (Gujarat) & Karachi (Pakistan) by noon of 15th June,” it said.

Amid the cyclone alert, officials at Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla at Gujarat’s Kutch have started shifting people from low-lying areas to temporary shelters. Public Relations Officer of Deendayal Port Authority Om Prakash said that six ships have left the port and 11 more will be departing on Monday, reported news agency ANI. He added that port officials and ship owners have also been asked to remain alert.

Several parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra on Sunday night witnessed rainfall and strong winds as the intensity of cyclone Biparjoy increased.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in Pakistan has also put the authorities concerned on high alert as the cyclone is likely to affect Sindh’s coastal regions on June 13.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) on Sunday organised a series of meetings of the Joint Assessment Team handling weather and tropical conditions – as part of its efforts to monitor and evaluate the tropical conditions in the UAE and the possible impact on the country. Through the ongoing monitoring, the NCEMA affirmed that tropical cyclone Biparjoy has been reclassified as Cat-2 – as the wind speed around the centre grew to a range of 165 to 175 km/h, reported ANI. It also said that the Cyclone is expected to continue moving north and northeast towards the India-Pakistan coast, and will have no impact on the UAE over the next five days.