The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday evening said the landfall process of ‘very severe’ cyclonic storm Biprajoy started near Gujarat’s Jakhau port and is centered over north Arabian Sea but it is coming closer to the state’s Saurashtra coast with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph, gusting to 140 kmph. The diameter of the storm’s eye is about 50 km and would hit the region around midnight.
NDTV quoted some officials as saying, “Once the eyewall reaches the land, there will be heavy rainfall and strong winds followed by a sudden lull.”
Appealing people not to venture out until the situation gets back to normal, the officials said the rear end of the eye will bring another spell of heavy downpour.
As the landfall process of cyclone Biparjoy started, the IMD called it a “dangerous period” till midnight.
Meanwhile, the authorities have already shifted more than 94,000 persons in eight coastal districts of Gujarat to temporary shelters.
The cyclone, which moved east-north eastward towards Gujarat coast with a speed of 12 kmph in the past six hours, will make landfall between Mandvi in Kutch district and Karachi in Pakistan near Jakhau port between Saurashtra-Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts, the IMD has said.
The weather department said the cyclone would bring extremely heavy rains and cause ‘astronomical tide’ with a storm surge of 2-3 metres height that could inundate low-lying areas in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Morbi districts during landfall.
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