As a very severe cyclonic storm approaches western India and Pakistan, seven people have already lost their lives. On Tuesday, four boys drowned in rough seas off the coast of Mumbai, while three people were killed when a wall collapsed in Gujarat. The storm, named Biparjoy, is expected to make landfall between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan on Thursday evening. Meteorologists are forecasting maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 km per hour, gusting to 150 km per hour.
Coastal districts of India and Pakistan have begun evacuating people from areas likely to be impacted and setting up relief camps in government buildings and schools. More than 20,500 people have been evacuated from coastal districts of Gujarat in India, while around 100,000 are expected to be evacuated in Pakistan by Wednesday morning. Fishing has been suspended in Gujarat, and schools have declared holidays, while ships and boats have been moved from some areas of Pakistan’s coast.
India’s largest ports, Kandla and Mundra, have suspended operations, as have other ports in the region, including Bedi, Navlakhi, Porbandar, Okha, Pipavav, and Bhavnagar. As a result of the storm, Reliance Industries has declared a force majeure, temporarily suspending exports of diesel and other oil products from Gujarat’s Sikka port, and Adani Ports has suspended vessel operations at Mundra. The Indian Coast Guard has also evacuated 50 personnel from an oil rig off Gujarat’s coast, owned by Dubai-based Shelf Drilling, and currently working for Cairn Oil & Gas (Vedanta Ltd.).
Gujarat is home to many offshore oil installations and major ports in the country, and in 1998, a cyclone killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in the region. In response to the approaching storm, eight districts in coastal Gujarat are expected to be affected, and high waves in the Arabian Sea are accompanied by heavy rains and gusting winds. Hospitals in the region are on high alert, and Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority has set up relief camps and shelters in government buildings and schools.
