The “very severe” cyclonic storm Biparjoy is forecast to increase further over the next 24 hours and proceed north-northeastward, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday.
With winds of up to 145 kilometres per hour, the storm is currently situated about 690 kilometres west of Goa, 640 kilometres west-southwest of Mumbai, and 640 kilometres south-southwest of Porbandar. In coastal areas of Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra, the storm may bring heavy rain and severe gusts, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned.
“Very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy at 2330 hrs IST of 9th June over east-central Arabian Sea near lat 16.0N & long 67.4E. Likely to intensify further & move north-northeastwards during the next 24hrs,” IMD said in a tweet.
Due to heavy waves and strong gusts in advance of Cyclone Biparjoy, Tithal Beach, a major tourist spot in Gujarat’s Valsad on the Arabian Sea coast, has been closed to visitors till June 14.
“We told the fishermen not to venture into the sea and they all have come back. People will be shifted to the village at the seashore if needed. Shelters have been made for them. We have closed Tithal Beach for tourists till June 14,” Valsad Tehsildar TC Patel said as quoted by news agency.
Fishermen are not advised to go into the seas off the coasts of Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep by the IMD. For eight districts in Kerala, a yellow alert was issued on Friday.
About 640 km south-southwest of Gujarat’s coastal Porbandar district, the cyclone’s centre is located. From deep water locations, fishermen have been asked to return to the coast, and ports have been told to hoist the Distant Warning signal (DW II).
“It may reach South Gujarat on Sunday or Monday. Presently, we are on alert mode and all officials were advised not to leave the headquarter. The SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) teams have been kept on standby mode while people of the coastal village had been alerted. If needed, they were told, they will have to be shifted to safer places,” Surat’s Collector BK Vasava said.
“Due to the cyclone, the wind speed may go up to 45 to 55 knots on June 10,11 and 12. The speed may also touch the 65-knot mark. The cyclone would bring light rains and thunderstorms in coastal regions, including south Gujarat and Saurashtra. All ports have been asked to hoist Distant Warning signal,” said Manorama Mohanty, Director of IMD’s Meteorological Centre in Ahmedabad, as quoted by news agency.
Ports are mandated by international maritime law to hoist signals warning vessels of imminent bad weather conditions. This is carried out to safeguard marine operations and to safeguard ships and their crews.
Bangladesh gave the cyclone the name Biparjoy. The name is Bengali for “disaster” or “calamity”. The term was officially adopted by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in 2020 for any tropical cyclones that develop across the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
