New Delhi: India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said that Gujarat's Devbhoomi Dwarka is likely to witness extremely heavy rainfall triggered by cyclone 'Biparjoy.' Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over Kutch, Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi, and Junagarh districts, IMD's Director General Mrityunjay Mohapatra said while addressing the media.
He said that the cyclone will likely make its landfall on the Saurashtra Coast tomorrow morning with an expected wind speed of 150 Kmph.
According to him, a severe storm is expected to hit the coasts of Saurashtra and Kutch tomorrow evening.
Currently, Cyclone 'Biparjoy' is located 290 km away from Devbhoomi Dwarka and 280 km from Jakhau Port in Gujarat.
According to Mohapatra, its speed has slowed down in the past six hours and is nearly stationary. He said that there has been no significant movement for over 3 days.
"At the time of landfall of cyclone, wind speed of 125-135kmph gusting to 150kmph expected. Kutch, Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh and Gir-Somnath to witness 65-75 gusting to 85 kmph wind speed today," he said.
The wind speed will be 50 to 70 kmph today and tomorrow i.e. on June 15, it can reach 85 kmph.
Tomorrow, the winds will be strongest over Kutch, Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh, and Morbi. The speed can reach 125 to 145 km.
Mohapatra stated that the cyclone will enter Rajasthan on June 17 but by then, the speed will reduce significantly. According to him, the district of Kutch may experience the highest speed.
He said that the fishermen have been advised to stay away from the northeastern Arabian Sea until June 15.
SDM Dwarka Parth Talsania said that around 4,500 people have been shifted from coastal areas to various shelter homes and one NDRF team each has been deployed at Dwarka and Okha.
Around 95 trains running through, originating or terminating in Biparjoy-affected areas of Gujarat, will remain cancelled or short-terminated till June 15, Western Railway said in a statement.