Meteorologists predict maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour, gusting to 150 km per hour
\nNEW DELHI
\nFour boys drowned in rough seas off the western Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Tuesday as India and Pakistan began evacuating people from coastal areas, two days before a cyclone is expected to make landfall.
\nClassified as a very severe cyclonic storm, Biparjoy is expected to land around Thursday evening between Mandvi in India\u2019s Gujarat province and Karachi in southern Pakistan.
\nMeteorologists predict maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour, gusting to 150 km (93 miles) per hour.
\n\u201cFour boys drowned at Juhu beach on Monday evening. So far, we have found the bodies of two, and the search is still ongoing to locate the remaining two,\u201d said a police official in Mumbai, south of Gujarat.
\nHigh waves in the Arabian Sea, accompanied by heavy rains and gusting winds pounded Gujarat\u2019s coastal areas, uprooting trees and resulting in a wall collapse that killed three people in Kutch and Rajkot districts, authorities said.
\nEight districts in coastal Gujarat are expected to be affected, the state government said. Fishing has been suspended until Friday and schools have declared holidays.
\nGujarat is home to many offshore oil installations and major ports in the country and most have been forced to suspend operations.
\nA 1998 cyclone killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in Gujarat.
\nRelief Commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said that more than 20,500 people have been evacuated from coastal districts and the evacuation was expected to be completed by Tuesday evening.
\nIn neighbouring Pakistan, paramilitary troops and local civil authorities also started moving people to shelters and relief camps, which were set up in schools and other government buildings, said Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman.
\nShips and boats have been moved from some areas of Pakistan\u2019s coast while hospitals in the region were put on high alert, added Rehman.
\nAbout 100,000 people will be evacuated by Wednesday morning, the chairman of Pakistan\u2019s National Disaster Management Authority said.
\nTwo of India\u2019s largest ports, Kandla and Mundra, have suspended operations, the state government said. Other ports, including Bedi, Navlakhi, Porbandar, Okha, Pipavav and Bhavnagar, have also closed due to the cyclone, according to shipping sources.
\nReliance Industries (RELI.NS), which operates the world\u2019s largest refining complex in Gujarat\u2019s Jamnagar, declared a force majeure, suspending exports of diesel and other oil products from Gujarat\u2019s Sikka port, traders said.
\nThe Adani conglomerate\u2019s ports business, Adani Ports (APSE.NS), said it suspended vessel operations on Monday at Mundra, India\u2019s biggest commercial port that has the country\u2019s largest coal import terminal, and also at Tuna port near Kandla.
\nThe Indian Coast Guard said it evacuated 50 personnel from a jack-up oil rig off Gujarat\u2019s coast named Key Singapore, which is owned by Dubai-based Shelf Drilling (SHLF.OL) and currently working for Cairn Oil & Gas (Vedanta Ltd.) (VDAN.NS), according to Shelf Drilling\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Meteorologists predict maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour, gusting to 150 km per hour NEW DELHI Four boys drowned in rough seas off the western Indian financial hub of Mumbai on Tuesday as India and Pakistan began evacuating people from coastal areas, two days before a cyclone is expected to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-337444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n