As Cyclone Biparjoy continues to boil in the Arabian Sea and moves closer to the Makran Belt, the government of Balochistan has declared a state of emergency in the province’s coastal regions, according to 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. The report stated that from June 13 to 17, There will likely be widespread wind-dust-thunderstorm rain with some very heavy/extremely heavy falls and squally winds of 80-100 kph gusting 120 kph in Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparker, Mirpurkhas, and Umerkot districts.