Thousands evacuated in India and Pakistan as cyclone Biparjoy intensifies

Kathmandu:  Thousands of people have been evacuated in India and Pakistan after cyclone Biparjoy is intensifying into a very severe storm.

According to the India Meteorological Department ( IMD), 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.

On Tuesday, authorities in Gujarat shifted 30,000 people from coastal areas to temporary shelters. Four persons died in the state in three separate incidents in the past 24 hours because of pre-cyclonic rains and strong winds.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday reviewed Gujarat’s preparedness for the cyclone in a virtual meeting with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and other senior officials. Shah asked the state government to make arrangements to move people living in vulnerable areas to safer locations, and to ensure that all essential services, including electricity, telecommunications, healthcare, and drinking water, are available in these areas.

The cyclone is located about 290 km southwest of Porbandar in Gujarat and is heading northward at a speed of five kilometers per hour, according to the weather service. On Thursday, it is anticipated to pass across Gujarat’s Saurashtra and Kutch districts as well as the nearby Pakistani coastlines.

Authorities in Pakistan are also evacuating people to safer places. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said the intensity of Biparjoy had gotten severe. The NDMA chief added that 100,000 people will be evacuated from vulnerable areas and assured that the process would be completed by the morning of June 15.

An alert issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department’s Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre at 9:30pm on Tuesday said the cyclone had moved further north-north westward during the last six hours and now lay at a distance of about 380km south of Karachi and 390km south of Thatta.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Sindh provincial government, NDMA and other relevant organisations to utilise all-out resources to ensure people’s protection from the cyclone.

The prime minister, who chaired a meeting to review the preparedness ahead of the cyclone’s possible impact, asked the Sindh government, NDMA and other organisations to ensure the establishment of mobile hospitals in coastal areas and provide adequate emergency medical assistance there.