New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Saurashtra and Kutch coasts as cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall in Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan on Thursday. On landfall, a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 km (78-84 miles) per hour is expected, gusting up to 150 km per hour.

Extremely heavy rains are likely over Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar; heavy to very heavy rainfall is seen in Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts; and heavy rainfall is expected over remaining districts of Saurashtra and north Gujarat on Thursday.

IMD has advised suspending fishing operations along Gujarat’s south and north coasts and evacuation of people from the coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch.

Mundra and Kandla, two of the India’s biggest ports in the Gulf of Kutch, and Jamnagar refinery, the world’s biggest oil refinery complex owned by Reliance Industries, are based in Saurashtra.

In a stock exchange filing on Monday, Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited said operations at its port have been suspended since Saturday late evening due to “prevailing severe weather conditions”.

Home minister of Gujarat Harsh Sanghvi is inspecting preparedness to deal with the impeding cyclone in Devbhumi Dwarka. Officials in coastal Devbhumi Dwarka said about 1,300 people so far have been moved to safer places.

Seven teams of India’s National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the districts that may be affected by the storm, chief minister Bhupendra Patel said in a tweet.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level review meeting to assess preparedness.

Around a dozen districts in coastal Gujarat would be affected by heavy rainfall and gusting winds, though some of the districts are sparsely populated that would limit the damage, an IMD official told Reuters.

The Centre has directed the Gujarat government to regulate onshore and offshore activities and mobilise evacuation from coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch from districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagadh and Morbi.

Issuing disaster management guidelines, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of Pakistan has asked stakeholders to ensure vigilant monitoring of the cyclone’s development and proactive coordination through respective emergency operation centres as southern and southeastern parts of the country are likely to be affected.

The NDMA said cyclone Biparjoy is expected to impact southern and south-eastern parts of Sindh on 13 June. Sindh is the second most populated province in Pakistan. As part of the preparedness plan, NDMA has suggested utilisation of multiple communication channels, such as television, radio, social media and SMS alerts, and conduct extensive and continuous awareness campaigns to effectively reach coastal communities, educate the public on the potential impacts of the cyclone, emergency evacuation procedures and safety measures.