Cyclone Biparjoy LIVE Updates: No lives lost after landfall in Gujarat, states NDRF as cyclone moves to Rajasthan

As per IMD's Tweet on Thursday, Cyclone Biparjoy will cross Gujarat's Jakhau Port by tonight after making landfall as a very severe cyclonic storm. The Tweet said, “Cyclone Warning for Saurashtra and Kutch Coasts: RED MESSAGE. VSCS BIPARJOY at 1130IST today near lat 22.8N & long 67.3E, about 140km WSW of Jakhau Port (Gujarat) and 190km WNW of Devbhumi Dwarka. To cross near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by tonight as VSCS.”

Inspector General AK Harbola, the commander of the Indian Coast Guard, said Cyclone Biparjoy's landfall is likely to take place between 6 to 8 pm. “Anticipating the situation post that, we have kept around 15 ships and seven aircraft on standby. We have kept four special Dorniers and three helicopters at the Coast Guard Station in Daman. We will deploy them if necessary,” he added, as reported by ANI.

Cyclone Biparjoy, which is about 150 km from the Gujarat coast, is expected to make landfall at around 9 pm or 10 pm on Thursday, with winds ranging between 115 and 125 km/hr. Citing the latest observations of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), state Commissioner of Relief, Alok Kumar Pandey, said that the speed at which the cyclone is moving towards Gujarat has come down. (PTI)

With cyclone 'Biparjoy' inching closer to Gujarat, the state administration said it has so far shifted more than 94,000 persons living in eight coastal districts to temporary shelters.

Of the 94,427 persons evacuated so far, nearly 46,800 were evacuated in Kutch district, followed by 10,749 in Devbhumi Dwarka, 9,942 in Jamnagar, 9,243 in Morbi, 6,822 in Rajkot, 4,864 in Junagadh, 4,379 in Porbandar and 1,605 in Gir Somnath district, a Gujarat government release said.

“Those who were shifted to safer places include nearly 8,900 children, 1,131 pregnant women and 4,697 elderly persons. A total of 1,521 shelter homes have been set up in these eight districts. Medical teams are visiting the shelters at regular intervals,” the release informed. (PTI)

Massive waves lashed Valsad seafront as cyclone Biparjoy is expected to hit the Gujarat coast in a few hours.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Saurashtra and Kutch coasts and has warned of heavy rainfall.

IMD has shared the latest satellite image of Cyclone Biparjopy.

Latest reports from Karachi say that the the port city is witnessing heavy rains and thunderstorm. A Dawn report says that all small aircraft ops have been suspended in the country. Close to a lakh people have been evacuated and latest update from Pak govt says that while the cyclone has slowed down a bit, the core of the storm remains intense.

The name ‘Biporjoy’ was given by Bangladesh and is a Bangla name that means ‘disaster’. According to the decree issued by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), the next tropical storm in the region will be named ‘Tej’ – a name suggested by India, followed by ‘Hamoon’ and ‘Midhili’ which have been suggested by Iran and Maldives respectively. Read more

In the wake of the very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy set to make landfall in Gujarat on Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for heavy rainfall in the coastal region of Karnataka, as well as the southern interior parts. The Department has also warned of high waves. Heavy rain is expected to continue in all three districts of the coastal region — Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada. In Uttara Kannada, district authorities have declared a high wave alert till June 19.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Cyclone Biparjoy, at present, is moving north-northeastwards towards Saurashtra and Kutch coast and is around 180 km away from Jakhau port.

With cyclone Biparjoy likely to make landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat's Kutch district on Thursday, the state administration has shifted thousands of people living near the coast as a precaution and deployed disaster management units for rescue and relief measures. See pics here

A contingent from the Indian Army has been deployed to carry out relief and rescue operations in response to Cyclone Biparjoy.

“The cyclone is expected to make landfall between 4-5 pm today. 46,000 people have been evacuated and shifted to shelter homes. 6 NDRF, 3 RPF teams, 2 SDRF teams and 8 columns of Army are on standby,” Amit Arora, Collector Kachchh, said, as reported by ANI,

He added, “More than 20,000 animals have been taken to safer places. Adequate amount of food ration has been made available at all shelter homes. 50 teams ready for road clearance.”

Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel held a review meeting at the State Emergency Operation Center in Gandhinagar on cyclone Biparjoy.

Some 74,000 people have been shifted to shelters from Gujarat's coastal region ahead of cyclone Biparjoy's expected landfall in Kutch district this evening. Part of the Saurashtra-Kutch region received heavy rain yesterday.

Strong winds lashed the coastal town of Dwarka as Cyclone Biparjoy approached the Gujarat coast. It is expected to make landfall this evening. Dwarka is likely to see extremely heavy rainfall today due to the cyclone.

– In consonance with its firm resolve to mitigate the hardships felt by the population during times of natural disaster all armed forces that are the Army, Navy, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard have prepared themselves to provide assistance to the locals in view of Cyclone Biparjoy in Gujarat: Wing Commander N Manish, Defence PRO & Spokesperson MoD, Gujarat

– Indian army has deployed more than 27 relief columns across Gujarat as well as at the forward locations of Mandvi, and Dwarka. Army authorities have also jointly started relief operations along with civil administration as well as with the NDRF teams: Wing Commander added

Considering the alertness for Cyclone Biparjoy, Indian Railways has cancelled the operation of more than 40 trains today as a precautionary measure in the cyclone prone areas. The trains have been cancelled in the Western Railway zone. The cyclone is expected to cross between Mandvi in Kutch and Karachi in Pakistan near Jakhau port with wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph on the evening of Thursday. (READ FULL REPORT)

Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology climate scientist Roxy Mathew Koll says that the sea surface temperatures in the Arabian Sea have been much above the climatological barriers. At 31 degree C to 32 degree C in early June, Arabian Sea has been much warmer than the usual 27 degree C. This has resulted in rapid intensification of Cyclone Biparjoy and helped it in retaining its strength, NASA says.

Hello everyone! Presenting our live coverage of very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy. The cyclone is set to make landfall near Gujarat later in the evening today. Gujarat is on red alert. Other coast states are also high alert. NASA says, 'the storm had spent eight days in the Arabian Sea, generally moving slowly north, until it took a turn to the east on June 14.'