Ahead of the landfall of the ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ Biparjoy in Kutch district, districts on the track of the cyclone have received a total rainfall of 2,248 millimeters (about 88 inches) in the past three days, Alok Kumar Pandey, Relief Commissioner of Gujarat informed on Thursday.
“As the cyclone approaches the coast, the wind speed and rainfall intensity will increase. Over the past three days, a total of 2,248 mm of rainfall has been recorded in 55 talukas of the eight districts, possibly due to the cyclone’s impact. The weather department has issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next two days,” he said.
The Gujarat Government has shifted nearly 1 lakh people from the coastal areas of these eight districts: Junagadh, Kutch, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Morbi and Rajkot.
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“Biparjoy is likely to make landfall at night between 9 and 10 pm today with an estimated windspeed of 115-125 kmph. Till the morning of Thursday, 94,427 citizens from eight districts were evacuated to safe places in the districts that may be affected by the Cyclone,” said Pandey.
Preparedness review
On Thursday, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel convened a meeting at the State Emergency Operation Center in Gandhinagar to review the preparedness measures.
Considering the potential storm’s impact on the Gujarat coast, advance preparations have been directed for the districts of Banaskantha and Patan in North Gujarat, where heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecasted on June 16. The concerned district administration has been instructed accordingly.
IMD’s warnings
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next two days for the districts of Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Kutch, and parts of Rajkot, Porbandar, Junagadh, and Morbi. It has also issued a rainfall warning for the districts of North Gujarat and Central Gujarat including Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkanha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Anand.
Also read: IMD tones down wind speeds slightly, but Biparjoy will still pack a punch
In its wind warnings, the IMD has predicted strong surface winds of 120-130 kmph gusting to 145 kmph for Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Jamnagar, while strong winds of 80-120 kmph will be seen in Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Rajkot, Porbandar, and Morbi.
As the cyclone moves north-eastward from Kutch to Rajasthan and weakens as a deep depression to a well-marked low-pressure area on June 16 and 17, IMD has predicted rains for West and South West regions of Rajasthan including the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, and Jalor for extremely heavy to very heavy rains.