Pakistan: Cyclone Biparjoy brews in Arabian Sea

Balochistan's government has declared a state of emergency in the province's coastal areas as Cyclone Biparjoy continues to brew in the Arabian Sea and approaches the Makran Belt, reported The Express Tribune.

On the orders of Chief Minister Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, Section 144 has been issued in the coastal belt.

All departments and law enforcement organisations have been placed on high alert to deal with the crisis. According to an official handout, all government personnel in the Makran Belt have had their leaves revoked due to the approaching threat, as per The Express Tribune.

The Express Tribune is an internationally affiliated newspaper in Pakistan.

Bizenjo has asked the commissioners of the Makran and Kalat divisions to increase coordination and put all departments on high alert in order to avoid any untoward incident.

In this regard, he directed that coordination be established among Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), civil administration, and all relevant agencies.

He also directed that the relevant departments aggressively engage and seek opinions from fishermen with extensive sea knowledge.

In light of the impending threat, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General (DG) Jehanzaib Khan informed the chief minister of the preparations for a relief operation.

The Director-General of PDMA is currently stationed in Gwadar, along with his team of experts and relief equipment. They are keeping a close eye on the cyclone situation and are actively coordinating relief operations.

The CM directed that timely preparations be made in order to properly cope with all types of emergency circumstances in maritime storms, The Express Tribune reported.

Notably, Cyclone Biparjoy now lay at a distance of about 380 kilometres south of Karachi, Pakistan-based ARY News reported.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in the latest alert said that Cyclone Biparjoy had moved further north-northwestward in the past six hours and now lay at a distance of about 380 kilometres south of Karachi and 390 kilometres south of Thatta.

It said, "Maximum sustained surface winds are 140-150 Km/hour gusts 170 Km/hour around the system centre and sea conditions being phenomenal around the system centre with maximum wave height 30 feet," according to ARY News report.

The advisory said that the "favourable environmental conditions - sea surface temperature of 29-30°C, low vertical wind shear & upper-level divergence are in support to sustain its strength through the forecast period," as per the ARY News report.

The cyclone was "most likely" to track further northward until June 14, then recurve Northeastward and cross between Keti Bandar and India's Gujarat coast on June 15 as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) with packing winds of 100-120 Kilometers per hour gusting 140 kilometres per hour.

According to the alert issued by PMD, the widespread wind-dust/thunderstorm rain with some very heavy/extremely heavy falls along with squally winds of 80-100 kilometres per hour gusting 120 kilometres per hour likely in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparker, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts from June 13-17, the report said.

Dust/thunderstorm rain with few heavy falls along with squally winds of 60-80 Km/hour is likely to hit Karachi, Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allayar, Shaheed Benazirabad and Sanghar districts from June 14 -16, according to ARY News report.

PMD warned sea conditions along the Sindh coast might get rough to high and rough to very high along the Balochistan coast. Meanwhile, Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman on Tuesday said that Karachi "will likely" face urban flooding considering the scale and intensity of the winds.

Amid the threat from Cyclone Biparjoy, the Sindh government has cancelled and rescheduled all exams and other educational activities in Karachi from June 14, as per the ARY News report. Karachi Commissioner has ordered the concerned authorities to suspend the examinations, seminars and other events.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon said that 56,895 people had been evacuated from the Badin, Sujawal and Thatta districts of Sindh.