Cyclone Biparjoy is a powerful tropical cyclone that formed over the east-central Arabian Sea and is expected to make landfall near the India-Pakistan border.

As Cyclone Biparjoy approaches and is likely to make landfall near the Kutch district off the Gujarat coast, evacuation efforts will pick up on Tuesday, with the government aiming to evacuate people within 10 km from the coast.

Western Railway has short-terminated more than 50 trains heading to coastal areas of the state and is considering the cancellation of several trains over the next three days. The Western Railway is also taking various measures including setting up disaster management rooms, help desks, and keeping relief trains ready. (Image Shutterstock)

Station masters have been instructed to regulate or stop trains when the wind velocity exceeds 50 kmph. Veraval-Junagad, Porbandar-Kanalus, Rajkot-Okha and Viramgam-Gandhidham-Bhuj sections are most vulnerable to this cyclone. (Image Shutterstock)

"VSCS (very severe cyclonic storm) Biparjoy lay centered at 0230 IST of the 13th June, 2023 over Northeast and adjoining Eastcentral Arabian Sea about 290 km southwest of Porbandar & 360 km south-southwest of Jakhau Port. To cross Saurashtra & Kutch near Jakhau Port by evening of 15th June as a VSCS," India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest post.

The IMD has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar on June 15, when Biparjoy which means disaster or calamity in the Bengali language is expected to make the landfall.

PM Modi, at a high-level meeting in New Delhi on Monday, asked senior officers to take every possible measure to ensure people living in vulnerable locations are safely evacuated by the state government.

A disaster management room has been made operational at the Western Railway headquarters in Mumbai and at divisional headquarters at Bhavnagar, Rajkot and Ahmedabad. Additionally, hotlines between them have been ensured for smooth functioning. Relief trains have been equipped with adequate medicines and are kept on alert. (Image Shutterstock)

Shipping activities at the country's largest public sector port in Kandla were shut following the cyclone warning and around 3,000 people, including workers there, have been shifted to safer places, district administration officials said. Fishing activities have also been totally suspended. (Image Shutterstock)

Two of India’s biggest ports – Mundra and Kandla – are in the Gulf of Kutch, while the Jamnagar refinery, the world’s biggest oil refinery complex owned by Reliance Industries, is based in the Saurashtra region. (Image Shutterstock)

A total of 12 teams each of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the districts that are likely to be affected by the cyclone and arrangements have been made for the accommodation, food and medicine of the evacuated people.

The IMD has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar on June 15, when Biparjoy which means disaster or calamity in the Bengali language is expected to make the landfall.

Sea conditions are likely to remain rough to very rough till the evening of Wednesday, and high to phenomenal thereafter till the noon of June 15 before improving, IMD said. In view of the impending cyclone, the NDRF has deployed two additional teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure, an official said on Monday. (Image Shutterstock)

These will not be typical monsoon rains and may not even benefit agriculture operations due to their untimely nature.

The monsoon hit the Indian mainland on Thursday, with the IMD declaring onset over Kerala a week after the usual date of June 1. (AP Photo)

The IMD had last month predicted normal to below-normal monsoon in northwest India which could mean more drier and hotter days in Delhi going ahead.