The Met department has issued a red alert for the coast of Saurashtra and Kutch ahead of the landfall of the Biparjoy cyclone, categorised as ‘very severe cyclonic storm’, in the evening of June 15 near Jakhau port in Kutch.
In its weather update at 12.30 pm on June 14, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the cyclonic storm was 280 km west-southwest of Jakhau port and about 290 km west-southwest of Devbhumi Dwarka on June 14 morning and moving northeastwards at 3 kmph.
The state administration has moved 47,113 people to safety from various low-lying areas in the districts that may be impacted by Biparjoy cyclone — Junagadh, Kutch, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Morbi, and Rajkot.
For the coastal districts, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has issued a high-wave alert. “High waves in the range of 3.5-7.5 metres are forecast during 17.30 hours on June 13, to 23.30 hours of June 14 along the coast from Jakhau to Valsad,” the alert said.
The latest data from the State Emergency Operation Centre noted that 27 talukas received rainfall on June 14.
As the cyclone moves northeastwards from Kutch, further up to Rajasthan, and weakens as a deep depression to a well-marked low pressure area on June 16 and June 17, the Met department has forecast extremely heavy to very heavy rains for west and southwest f Rajasthan, including the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur and Jalor.
The state has deployed 17 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) across the districts.