Biparjoy starts making landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat’s Kutch

NEW DELHI — Cyclone Biparjoy has started making landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat’s Kutch district after churning across the Arabian Sea for over 10 days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Thursday evening.

Winds of up to 145 kmph and heavy rains battered Kutch and Saurashtra coasts as agencies remain on high alert.

The landfall process will be completed by midnight.

Authorities have evacuated around one lakh people living in vulnerable areas following a prompt warning from the IMD about the “extensive damaging potential” of the cyclone.

Officials said 15 NDRF teams, 12 teams of the State Disaster Response Force and personnel of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force have been deployed for relief and rescue operations.

The Met office had earlier warned of very heavy (11.5 cm to 20.4 cm) to extremely heavy rainfall (over 20.5 cm) in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts.

“We won’t be surprised if some areas record more than 25 cm of rainfall. Usually, they do not receive such intense precipitation at this time of the year. Therefore, there is a risk of flooding in the low-lying areas,” IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had cautioned.

Meteorologists had warned of extensive damage to standing crops, houses, roads, electricity and communication poles, and flooding of escape routes.

Hugh tides could inundate low-lying areas of Saurashtra and Kutch coasts, they said.