Pakistan braces for cyclone Biparjoy's landfall

Karachi, June 15 (IANS) Pakistan is on the highest alert for disaster management, response, rescue and evacuation measures as the very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy is set to make landfall on Thursday evening.

Authorities have remained on high alert since the past 24 hours as emergency evacuation of thousands of families gains pace.

Biparjoy is showing some sings of slowing down in pace and also took an expected curve, moving away from the country's Sindh province's provincial capital Karachi.

However, the expected areas to get the first hit of the landfall are Keti Bandar, Badin and Thatta.

According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department's (PMD), the expected time for the cyclone landfall along with the wind speed also loosing some pace as it has fallen from 170 km per hour to about 120 to 140 kms per hour.

"Cyclone Biparjoy has slowed down but core remains intense. It will not make a landfall before nightfall now," said Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman.

"The cyclone was expected to landfall between Keti Bandar and India's Gujarat by evening," the PMD said.

As per the latest update, the cyclone is about 210 km from Karachi, at least 225 km south of Thatta and about 145 km South-southwest of Keti Bandar.

Pakistan Army, Rangers and rescue authorities have evacuated over 200,000 people so far.

Rehman said that at least 72,000 people have been evacuated in the last 72 hours, adding that there is a possibility of another cyclone during July as well.

"The widespread wind-dust/thunderstorm and heavy rain was likely in Sindh's Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts from June 15 to 17," a PMD alert said.

"Sea conditions along Sindh coast may get very rough/high and rough/very rough along Balochistan coast."

While authorities remain on tenterhooks as it braces to witness the landfall of Biparjoy, the estimates of the intensity of the cyclone remains unpredictable and unstable.

"Directions of the cyclone were changing every hour. Its landfall period is variable and has moved further between June 15-16. We have at least 17 stations monitoring it," said Rehman.

"Biparjoy was the most monitored storm in the world right now."

Moreover, amid looming threat of the cyclone, heavy rainfall forecast, flight operations at Karachi, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sukkur have been directed to be suspended, if the air pressure crosses the threshold of 30 nautical knots.