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MUMBAI:

A storm off India’s west coast has strengthened to become a powerful cyclone and could hit India’s western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan on Thursday, India’s Met said. The cyclone, named Biparjoy, is expected to make landfall on Thursday afternoon between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 km per hour, gusting up to 150 km per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

India’s Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal on Monday chaired a high-level meeting with senior officials of the port authority to review preparedness for the upcoming Cyclone Biparjoy in the Northern Arabian Sea.During the virtual meeting, Mr. Sonowal directed the senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safe, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said.

India’s weather office has advised fishing communities to halt operations and the evacuation of people from the coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat. Two of India biggest ports – Mundra and Kandla – are in the Gulf of Kutch, while the Jamnagar refinery, the world’s biggest oil refinery complex owned by Reliance Industries, is based in Saurashtra.

The Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited, in a stock exchange filing on Monday, said operations at its Pipavav Port had been suspended since late evening on Saturday due to “prevailing severe weather conditions”.

Seven teams of India’s National Disaster Response Force and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the districts likely to be affected by the storm, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said in a tweet.

Nearly a dozen districts in coastal Gujarat would be affected by heavy rainfall and gusting winds, although some of the districts are sparsely populated, which would limit the damage, said a weather office official, who declined to be named.

The weather office also cautioned about uprooting power and communication poles. It said there may be major damage to “kutcha and pucca roads,” flooding of escape routes. minor disruption of railways and overhead power lines and signalling systems.

“Widespread damage to standing crops, plantations, orchards, falling of green coconuts and tearing of palm fronds. Blowing down bushy trees like mango. Small boats and country crafts may get detached from moorings,” it said and added that visibility might be severely affected due to salt spray.

Biparjoy delayed the onset of the annual monsoon over Kerala, but now conditions are favourable for the progress of much-needed rains in some more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states, the weather office said.

The post Biparjoy likely to hit Gujarat coast on Thursday appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Over one lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas and power supply was disconnected in vulnerable areas as a precautionary measure.

#WATCH Chennai witnessing spell of strong winds after #Cyclone Nivar made landfall near Puducherry late last night#TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/jZZB3FCJUX

— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2020

Chennai’s Meteorological Department said that the cyclone has completely moved to the land and “it has weakened into a severe cyclonic storm. In the next six hours it would further weaken into a cyclonic storm in the next six hours. Heavy rain would also continue.

The tropical storm, which emerged in Bay of Bengal, forced authorities in the southern state to declare a public holiday till Thursday. Metro stations were closed. The Chennai Airport resumed operations after closing it for 12 hours in the wake of the cyclone. However over 70 Chennai flights were cancelled.

Puducherry and coastal districts of Tamil Nadu including Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, continue to receive rain and experience heavy winds.

Tamil Nadu: Eraiyanur village fishermen in Villupuram district experience less than expected damage from cyclone Nivar

"We're happy that cyclone hasn't affected us much. A day ahead we shifted our boats. Now the waves are high. We cannot fish till next week," says a fisherman pic.twitter.com/wDlErkrlnK

— ANI (@ANI) November 26, 2020

Around 1,200 National Disaster Response Force personnel have been stationed in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh as well. Twelve teams are in Tamil Nadu (six in Cuddalore district and two in Chennai), seven in Andhra Pradesh and three in Puducherry. An additional 20 teams will be on standby in Odisha’s Cuttack, Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh and Thrissur in Kerala.

Government officials in Chennai released water from a major reservoir and cleared fallen trees. Vessels in the city’s port have been moved to sea and port operations will likely remain shut until the cyclone has passed.

With memories of the 2015 floods still fresh, Tamil Nadu is also monitoring four other reservoirs in anticipation of a rapid rise in water levels.

The post Cyclone Nivar weakens, but heavy rain in Chennai and Puducherry appeared first on The Gulf Indians.