Tin sheets of houses were blown away and trees were uprooted as strong winds and heavy rainfall covered the region amid cyclone Biparjoy's landfall on Thursday. The landfall process of Cyclone Biparjoy, which has been churning the Arabian Sea for days, has started in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat, amid heavy rainfall and strong winds, and is expected to continue upto midnight, said the India Meteorological Department on Thursday.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a review meeting at the State Emergency Operation Center in Gandhinagar on Thursday as the landfall process began near coastal Gujarat.
"The landfall process of Cyclone Biperjoy has begun," IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra confirmed the develpment to news agency PTI. "...It will hit the coast between Karachi and Mandvi and close to Jakhau port of Gujarat. This is now located about 70 kilometres away from Jakhau port in the Arabian Sea," he added.
"It is moving at a speed of about 15 kmph...Hence, the landfall process has commenced over the coastal districts of Saurashtra and Kutch...Upto midnight, the landfall process will continue..," Mohapatra said.
Torrential rains and strong winds battered Kutch and Saurashtra coasts as agencies remain on high alert. Trees were uprootes hoardings fell off in Gujarat's Dwarka as the impact of the landfall became quite evident.
The eye of the cyclone is around 50 km in diametre. Biparjoy is marching ahead with a speed of 13-14 kmph. Thus, it will take around five hours for the wall cloud and the eye to completely cross into the land, Mohapatra told PTI.
Around 1 lakh people living in vulnerable areas were evacuated by the authorities after a prompt warning from the IMD about the "extensive damaging potential" of the cyclone.
In the wake of the cyclone 15 teams of National Disaster Response Force, 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed along with personnel of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force for the purpose of relief and rescue operations.
On Wednesday, the cyclone re-curved towards Kutch area and adjoining south Pakistan and began moving north-eastwards. To minimise the impact of the landfall, 18 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed and around 94,000 people were reloacted from the affected areas, said NDRF Inspector General NS Bundela on Thursday.