India, Pakistan brace for cyclone Biparjoy

A STORM off India's west coast has strengthened to become a powerful cyclone and could hit Gujarat state and southern parts of Pakistan this week, the weather department said.

The cyclone, named Biparjoy, is expected to make landfall on Thursday (15) afternoon between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour, gusting to 150 km (93 miles) per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday (12).

Nearly a dozen districts in coastal Gujarat would be affected by heavy rainfall and gusting winds, although some of these are sparsely populated, which would limit the damage, said a weather office official, who declined to be named.

Fishermen in Gujarat have been advised against going to sea and those at sea have been called back, with 21,000 boats parked so far, the government said on Monday.

Offshore oil installations have also been asked to ensure immediate return of all manpower, and two of India's largest ports - Kandla and Mundra - located in Gujarat have been alerted while other ports have been advised for preventive action.

Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited, in a stock exchange filing on Monday, said operations at its Pipavav Port had been suspended since late last Saturday (10) evening due to "prevailing severe weather conditions".

Ten teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and 12 of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in Gujarat, the government said, with three more NDRF teams on standby and another 15 ready to be airlifted from other states on short notice.

"Rescue and relief teams of the Coast Guard, Army and Navy along with ships and aircraft have been kept ready on standby," it said.

In Pakistan, the National Disaster Management Authority said instructions are being given to take precautionary measures in southern and southeastern parts that may be affected.

"Its (the cyclone's) evolving impact will only be certain with further development of the situation," the authority said.

Pakistan authorities on Monday began an evacuation effort to move 80,000 citizens out of the approaching cyclone.

Swathes of coastal communities in southern Sindh province are set to suffer storm surges up to 3.5 metres (12 feet), which could inundate low-lying settlements, as well as up to 30 centimetres of rain.

Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah said an emergency has been declared and the army drafted in to help relocate "more than 80,000 people" at risk.

"We will not request people but demand them to evacuate," Shah told reporters, adding that the order was being issued through social media, mosques and radio stations.

A spokesman for Shah said around 2,000 people have already been evacuated to "safe places" from the area of Shah Bandar, a fishing town nestled among mangrove deltas 45 km (28 miles) west of India's Gujarat state.

However, in the nearby village of Gul Muhammad Uplano, authorities struggled to persuade families to leave.

"We will become helpless in the government camps, that is why we are better off at our own place," said 46-year-old Gul Hasan.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department has warned that traditional mud and straw homes which house the poorest in Pakistan will be vulnerable to disintegration in high winds.

But in the settlement of Haji Ibrahim, a cluster of such structures, fisherman Abu Bakar said concerns over losing their livelihoods prevail.

"Our boat, goats and camels are our assets," the 20-year-old said. "We cannot compromise on their safety."

"But if the danger becomes imminent, we will be forced to leave to save our lives," he conceded.

Provincial lawmaker Muhammad Ali Malkani said a decision had been made to evacuate the population living up to eight kilometres inland.

Karachi - a port city home to around 20 million - is also due to be deluged by dust and thunderstorms with winds whipping up to 80 km per hour.

Billboards will be removed and 70 vulnerable buildings evacuated in the city, while construction will be stopped over the entire affected area.

Heavy rains and strong winds late Saturday killed 27 people in northwest Pakistan, including eight children, officials said.

"Undoubtedly, these are the adverse effects of climate change," prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter last Sunday (11).

Biparjoy delayed the onset of the annual monsoon over the southern state of Kerala, but now conditions are favourable for the progress of much-needed rains in some more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu states, India's weather office said.

Last summer, Pakistan was hit by massive monsoon rains which put a third of the country under water, damaged two million homes and killed more than 1,700 people.

Pakistan, the world's fifth most populous country with 220 million inhabitants, is responsible for only 0.8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

But the nation ranks highly among those vulnerable to extreme weather events, which scientists say are becoming more frequent and more severe owing to climate change.

(Agencies)