The government has made the decision to evacuate the residential areas and other human settlements close to Sindh’s shore as the risk of tropical storm Biparjoy, which is currently existing in the Arabian Sea, increases.
Biparjoy, which has intensified and is now an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm (ESCS), is expected to reach Sindh’s coastal regions on June 15 (Thursday). All relevant authorities have been placed on high alert.
According to the most recent warning from the India Meteorological Department, the storm is 660 km south of Karachi.
It is very likely to move nearly northward until the morning of June 14 before shifting to the north-northeast and crossing the Saurashtra and Kutch and adjacent Pakistani coasts by noon on June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125–135 kph gusting to 150 kph.
In a meeting on Sunday that was presided over by Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon and covered the precautionary steps for the cyclone, it was decided to evacuate some districts while keeping the risk in mind.
Sardar Sarfaraz, the chief meteorologist for Sindh, and other pertinent representatives were present during the conference.
By tomorrow (June 13), when the storm is anticipated to approach the coast, the relevant authorities have been ordered to put the evacuation plan into action in cooperation with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA).
The evacuation plan includes Baba Bhit, Mubarak Village, Ibrahim Hydri Village, the harbour, and other low-lying settlements along the coastal strip.
The meeting instructed the deputy commissioners for Keamari, Malir, South, and Korangi to make sure that everyone living in the aforementioned areas had been evacuated by the deadline and sent to safe locations or relief camps created to help evacuees.
Additionally, instructions for leaving “dangerous buildings” have been given.
“Necessary action with regard to the dangerous buildings, building with a weak glass panels, scaffolding at around under construction buildings […]” would be taken by the Sindh Building Control Authority and deputy commissioners.
The locations under threat will also be cleared of any cranes and other construction equipment that may have been erected there.
While staying in the relief camps, the evacuees will have access to all amenities.
The implementation of Section 144 of the CrPC, the removal of hoardings and signboards, the installation of solar panels, the installation of de-watering pumps in low-lying areas and choke points, the prevention of electrocution and the falling of electricity poles, and the creation of a contingency plan were all other significant decisions made at the meeting.
At a post-budget press conference on Sunday, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced that 10,000 people would be relocated as part of the plan.
By the afternoon of June 15, Cyclone Biparjoy is forecast to make landfall as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm (VSCS) in the coastal belt of southeast Sindh between the Indian Gujarat and Pakistani Rann of Kutch coasts, according to officials on Sunday night.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the cyclone might bring about strong gusts, heavy rainfall, and flooding in the province’s coastal regions.
The NDMA instructed the relevant authorities to launch a local language awareness campaign to warn inhabitants of coastal areas about the weather and discourage them from going to the shorelines.
Boating in the open sea should be avoided by fishermen. In an emergency, heed their instructions and work with them, it continued.