Cyclone Biparjoy Landfall Today, Over 74K Evacuated, Somnath & Dwarka Temples Shut  

Gandhinagar: Cyclone Biparjoy is to have its landfall on Thursday evening near Jakhau port in Gujarat. According to IMD, on Thursday morning it was a distance of less than 200 kilometres from the Gujarat coast.

Over 74,345 people living in vulnerable areas between zero and 10 km from the seashore in the Kutch district have been evacuated to safe places. The Landfall of this cyclone will bring in heavy rain and storm surge.

The Dwarkadhish temple in Devbhumi Dwarka and Somnath temple in Gir Somnath district were closed down on Thursday for devotees and visitors.

The Western Railway has cancelled 76 trains, 36 trains were short-terminated and 31 short-originated as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of passengers and train operations.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Biparjoy is expected to make landfall near Jakhau port as a “very severe cyclonic storm” with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour.

A storm surge of about 2-3 metres above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate low-lying areas of the districts that are likely to be affected due to the landfall. The tides could rise up to 3-6 metres in some places, the IMD has said.

This will be the second cyclone to hit Gujarat in two years after ‘Tauktae’ in May 2021.