Cyclone Biparjoy on Saturday further weakened into a depression, stated the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), adding that the coastal belt of Sindh could experience more rain-thunderstorms with few heavy falls accompanied by gusty winds.
The met department further declared the condition of the sea now safe for fishermen, allowing fishermen of Balochistan to resume their activities from Saturday and those of Sindh from today (Sunday).
The PMD also stated that the cyclone has now moved further northeastward, and now lies over southwest Rajasthan (India) and southeast Pakistan (Tharparkar).
“The system is likely to move further eastward and weaken into a low-pressure area over Rajasthan (India),” the department added. Biparjoy made landfall a day earlier on India’s western coast of Gujarat leaving over 900 villages without power.
In Pakistan, at least four people died in rain-related incidents while a number of electric poles and trees were uprooted in Sindh’s Tharparkar, Umerkot and Badin as Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall overnight. Prior to its landfall on Thursday evening, more than 180,000 people in Sindh and the Indian state of Gujarat had been evacuated from its path.
The cyclone brought sustained winds of up to 125 kilometers (78 miles) per hour, but it weakened overnight.
The timely issuance of early warnings, accurate identification of vulnerable areas, and prompt evacuations played a crucial role in preventing major casualties from the cyclone. As a result, on Friday, shops and markets gradually reopened in Thatta under drizzling skies and a cool ocean breeze, providing a sense of relief to the affected communities.
Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Sohail Rajput stated that the government had successfully relocated more than 82,000 individuals from the coastal belt. He said that after the reduction in the impact of the storm, the affected individuals would be sent back to their homes and the Sindh government will provide one week’s ration to them.
The provincial government is currently providing food and other facilities to 50,000 people in 81 camps, including 5,000 families in Malir, 17,050 families in Sujawal, 23,000 families in Badin, and 5,000 individuals in a camp in Thatta. The government has said that the internally displaced persons will be sent back to their homes by June 19.
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