Disasters & Accidents

More than 100,000 evacuated in India, Pakistan against arrival of cyclone Biparjoy

New Delhi, Jun 14 (EFE).- More than 100,000 people have been evacuated from coastal areas of India and Pakistan against the imminent arrival of cyclone Biparjoy, expected to make landfall late Thursday near the border between the two neighboring countries.

In India, “over 45,000 locals have been evacuated so far to safer places” while more than 30 relief teams have been moved to the area, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahidi told the press.

“The cyclone is on its way to hit (the western Indian state of) Gujarat. The landfall is expected on the evening of June 15,” he added.

Pakistan, which continues with evacuation efforts, has already managed to relocate 64,107 people from vulnerable areas, tweeted Sindh province’s information minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Wednesday.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) expects cyclone Biparjoy “to cross Saurashtra & Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan)” with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kph gusting to 150 kph.

The effects of the cyclone will be particularly noticeable in Gujarat, and some areas of northern Rajasthan, according to the IMD.

Meanwhile, on the southeast coast of Sindh “widespread wind-dust/thunderstorm rain with some very heavy/extremely heavy falls” are expected from Thursday to Saturday, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

Sindh province was devastated by heavy floods during summer last year, which affected more than 33 million people, and claimed the lives of at least 1,700 people.

Cyclones are common on the Indian coast. In 2021, Cyclone Tauktae hit India’s western coast leaving at least 145 people dead. In neighboring Pakistan a cyclone in 1999 killed more than 6,000 people. EFE

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