Islamabad/Karachi: About 67,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in the country’s southern Sindh province to safer places ahead of Cyclone Biparjoy’s landfall in the coastal areas of Pakistan on Thursday. Due to the impact of the cyclone, there is a possibility of heavy rains and floods in many cities and preparations are being made to deal with it. ‘Biparjoy’ means disaster or calamity in Bengali. At present, Biparjoy, which has turned into a “very severe cyclonic storm”, is approaching India and Pakistan, prompting the authorities to take precautionary measures to minimize the possible loss of life and property. The “extremely severe cyclonic storm” is likely to make landfall between KT Bunder port in Sindh’s Thatta district and Kutch district in India.
According to the information shared by the Sindh Chief Minister’s Office (CMH), 67,367 people have been evacuated from their homes to safer places in three sensitive districts of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin and 39 relief camps have been set up there. Officials said that half of these people have been kept in relief camps while others have expressed their desire to stay with their relatives. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities concerned to evacuate over 50,000 people from coastal areas to safer places and make other arrangements as a precautionary measure to deal with the cyclone.
He tweeted on Wednesday, ‘I just spoke to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and discussed preparations to deal with the cyclone. I appreciate the arrangements made by the Sindh government under the leadership of the Chief Minister. I assured full support of the federal government to the Sindh government. With the cooperation of the public, Allah willing, we will overcome this situation.” Pakistan has already deployed civil administration and armed forces personnel to help in rescue operations in the coastal areas.
Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said there was no immediate threat to Karachi, but emergency measures were being taken to deal with the winds and rain that could lash the country’s economic hub. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) alert, under the influence of Cyclone Biparjoy, there will be strong winds, storm surges and heavy rains along the 325 km long coastal stretch between Mandvi and Karachi in the Indian state of Gujarat. Earlier, Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Memon told reporters that around 62,000 people have been evacuated to safer places from areas adjacent to Sindh’s coastal areas.
Memon said that “so far people living in Thatta, Keti Bandar, Sujawal, Badin, Umerkot, Tharparkar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allayar and Sanghar have been shifted to safer places”. People have been given shelter in government schools, colleges and government offices with strong buildings and adequate food, water and medical aid is being provided. Memon said some families in several areas of Thatta, Keti Bunder and Sujawal were not ready to leave their homes but had to be forcibly evicted for security reasons. He said, “There are people who had voluntarily moved to safer places.” Due to the cyclone, there may be heavy flooding in cities like Karachi and Hyderabad.
The latest alert issued by PMD said that the cyclone is about 310 km south of Karachi, 300 km south-southwest of Thatta and 240 km south-southwest of Keti Bunder. As a precautionary measure, the government has evacuated people from Hub and Lasbela districts of Balochistan province and some places in Gwadar to safer places. Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir cautions citizens about “temporary reduction in RLNG-based power generation and temporary increase in load-shedding” as cyclone disrupts RLNG (re-gasified liquefied natural gas-based) supplies in Pakistan Did.
The minister warned that the cyclone could affect the power transmission system in the coastal areas of Karachi and other parts of Sindh. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said Biparjoy was on the path predicted by the PMD. A spokesman for the Defense Housing Authority in Karachi also said that about 2,000 residents living in the Seaview and Darakshan housing areas, located near Seaview Beach, have voluntarily moved to other safer places. The government is issuing alerts to citizens to stay away from coastal areas, beaches. Fishing activities have been suspended and all ports in the region have been closed.
Malik said that “precaution will have to be taken till the risk is over.” May go. All restaurants and amusement parks near Seaview and DHA beaches have been closed, he said. Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport is operational but in case of inclement weather, security measures are taken as per the standard operating procedure (SOP) laid down at the airport, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
An official said that “pilots are regularly briefed about wind speed and weather conditions”. Let us select the nearest suitable destination for landing.” Earlier in 2010, Cyclone Phat wreaked havoc in the coastal areas of Pakistan. Due to this, 15 people had lost their lives in Sindh and Makran coastal areas and thousands of people had become homeless.
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