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Local authorities have begun evacuating people in Gujarat districts by the sea in view of the cyclone, which is likely to make landfall along the Saurashtra-Kutch coasts on June 15.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday reviewed preparedness of Central and Gujarat government agencies with regard to the impending landfall of Cyclone Biparjoy this week.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also attended the high-level meeting chaired by the PM.

“Prime Minister directed senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure that people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated by the State Government and to ensure maintenance of all essential services such as power, telecommunications, health, drinking water etc. and are restored immediately in the event of damages caused to them. He also directed that the safety of animals should also be ensured. He further directed for 24×7 functioning of control rooms,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office read.

The cyclone was expected to cross Saurashtra and Kutch between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) by Thursday noon in the form of a “very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 145 kmph”, the Met department said at the meeting.

The Met department also said that heavy rainfall was expected in the coastal districts of Gujarat, including extremely heavy rainfall in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar and heavy to very heavy rainfall in a few places in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts of Gujarat on Wednesday and Thursday. The Met department has been issuing bulletins since June 6 at the onset of the cyclonic system and sharing its forecasts with all agencies concerned.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs was constantly reviewing the situation and was in touch with the Gujarat government and Central agencies concerned, the PMO said.