Indian authorities 'pray for less damage' as Cyclone Biparjoy nears

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Wind and rain intensified along parts of India’s west coast on Thursday before the expected landfall of "very severe cyclonic storm" Cyclone Biparjoy.

The storm is in the east-central Arabian Sea, about 180km off the coast of Gujarat state and is on course to cross Saurashtra and Kutch districts as well as adjoining areas of Pakistan.

It is expected to make landfall between Jakhau Port in Kutch and Pakistan port city of Karachi at about 5pm and cause tidal surges of between two and three metres.

Indian authorities have moved nearly 75,000 people from low-lying areas to temporary shelters in the coastal districts of Kutch, Jamnagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Devbhumi Dwarka, Junagadh, Porbandar and Gir Somnath.

In Kutch, 47,000 people and more than 20,000 animals were moved to safer areas.

Strong winds have already started pounding the area.

“Wind speed has increased at Jakhau to around 70-75kph. It is drizzling,” Amit Arora, the top district official, told The National.

“We are worried and praying for minimum damage as ultimately it is nature. We can only mitigate the effect but can’t control it,” he said.

Authorities have sent additional medical staff and doctors to the shelters, he said.

“They are helping people who are panicking. We have an adequate amount of food rations, medicines and milk powder available at all shelter homes.”

Kutch was completely shut and authorities suspended public transport.

At a school that has been converted into a temporary shelter in Pipri village, about 7km from the town of Mandvi, Roshni Bano was anxious about the fate of her four-room house.

Ms Bano, from the fishing community in Mondwa village, was moved to the shelter on Tuesday with five family members.

“We are getting all the help here. We have no complaints with the arrangements but I am anxious about my house. It is walking distance from the Mandvi beach. I am praying for no damage to my home,” she told The National.

There are 350 villagers, including 35 children and 50 elderly people, sheltering in 13 rooms at the school.

“We are giving them regular food, milk and medicine. A primary healthcare doctor is also here and we have kept an ambulance on standby. We are leaving no stone unturned in giving them comfort,” said Laxmichand Sangar, a local council official.

In Jamnagar, villagers at Rasulnagar have put have ropes across their village as a means to ensure safe movement while braving the strong winds and heavy rainfall.

Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Bhuj in Kutch to oversee relief and rescue operations.

High tides and strong winds were also reported in Mumbai – India's financial capital in Maharashtra state, south of Gujarat.

Authorities there warned against venturing out to sea and posted guards along the coast after four teenagers drowned in big waves this week.

Cyclone Biparjoy is only the third cyclone in 60 years to hit the India's west coast.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 13 cyclones developed over the Arabian Sea in the month of June between 1965 and 2022.

Of these, two crossed the Gujarat coast, one hit Maharashtra, and one made landfall in Pakistan. Three of the cyclones hit the Oman-Yemen coastline and six weakened over the sea.

"In the month of May and June during the onset of monsoon, cyclones usually develop. The Arabian Sea doesn’t get many cyclones but it is not unnatural or rare,” Mritunjay Mohapatra, the director general of meteorology at IMD, told The National.

He said there were relatively fewer cyclones in the Arabian Sea because it is narrower and has a relatively cooler surface, and because of the dry air from the Arabian Peninsula.

On average, each year “five cyclones develop, four over the Bay of Bengal and one over the Arabian Sea, but we don’t expect every year there will be a cyclone" in the Arabian Sea, he said.

For many in Gujarat, Biparjoy is bringing back memories of the cyclone that hit the town of Kandla in June 1998, killing at least 10,000 people.

“No one knew about the cyclone then, not even the administration. Biparjoy is the second such cyclone of that scale but now the administration is active and helping us vigorously,” said Jitendra Soda, a government employee and a resident of Talvana village near Mandvi.

“It is raining on and off and winds are strong. It is risky but we are hoping that this time, there won’t be such destruction,” he said.