Fishing activities along Gujarat's south and north coasts have been suspended and authorities began evacuating people in districts by the sea in view of cyclone 'Biparjoy' likely to make landfall along the Saurashtra-Kutch coasts as a very severe cyclonic storm, officials said on Monday. Officials in coastal Devbhumi Dwarka said around 1,300 people have been shifted to safer places so far in this regard. In its latest bulletin, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' was very likely to move north-northeast and cross Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) by the noon of June 15 as a 'very severe cyclonic storm' with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kilometres per hours (kmph) gusting to 150 kmph.
The state government has begun preparations to deal with the fallout of the cyclone as it will bring very strong wind and heavy rainfall in the region, officials said.Section 144,which bars assembly of persons higher than a figure mandated by authorities, has been imposed in coastal areas of Kutch district, with the local administration working to evacuate people from areas close to the sea in the districts in Saurashtra-Kutch regions, they added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a review meeting at 1 pm on Monday to assess the situation of Cyclone ‘Biparjoy’. Meanwhile, several parts of Mumbai and Maharashtra received rains on Sunday night, an IMD official said. Mumbai city as well as coastal parts of the state also witnessed strong winds as the intensity of cyclone Biparjoy increased bringing rains to the western parts of the state.Strong winds also affected the air quality and visibility due to dust particles. Some trees fell in parts of Mumbai due to gusty winds, said a civic official.