The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday evening forecast that the Biparjoy cyclone is “very likely” to intensify into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” past midnight or early Monday even as the cyclone could make a landfall between Kutch and bordering Karachi in Pakistan on June 15.
According to the IMD officials, the cyclone may pass at an estimated distance of 200 km to 300 km from the Porbandar coast and is likely to usher in thunderstorms and strong wind on the Gujarat coast in the next five days.
The Met Department’s latest forecast says the “very severe cyclonic storm ‘Biparjoy’ is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm” during the next 12 hours and move north-northeastwards gradually during the next 24 hours, before moving north-north-westward during the subsequent three days.
Alert to the situation, the Gujarat Government has begun deploying teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in coastal areas and will set up shelters in six districts.
Official sources said while the exact place where the cyclone would make make the landfall will be known in the next few days, but informed that Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Gir Somnath, Porbandar, and Devbhumi Dwarka districts are likely to experience the cyclone with heavy rainfall and “very high wind speed during June 13-15 which may go up to 150 kmph.”
The Met Department’s wind warning until June 15 states that gale wind speed reaching 155 to 165 km per hour and gusting to 180 km an hour “prevailing over East Central and adjoining West Central and Northeast Arabian Sea is “likely to increase to 165 to 175 km per hour casting to 195 km per hour” before reducing late Sunday night.
Squally wind speeds reaching 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph on June 11, 45 to 65 kmph on June 12 and 50 to 60 km per hour gusting to 70 km per hour during June 13 and 14 are likely along and off the Saurashtra and Kutch coasts.
While gale wind speed reaching 65 to 75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph is very likely to prevail along and off the Kutch districts of Gulf of Kutch, and squally wind speed reaching 55 to 65 kmph gusting to 75 km per hour is very lightly along and off Saurashtra coast on June 15. Referring to Saurashtra and Kutch coast, the Met Department’s advisory stated that, “The sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough till June 14 and very high on June 15”.
