Severe cyclone to hit India's west coast, south Pakistan on Thursday

A storm off India's west coast has strengthened to become a powerful cyclone, which could hit India's western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan this week, the weather department said.

A storm off India's west coast has strengthened to become a powerful cyclone, which could hit India's western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan this week, the weather department said.

The cyclone, named Biparjoy, is expected to make landfall on Thursday (Jun 15) afternoon between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125kmh to 135kmh, gusting up to 150kmh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

The weather office has advised fishing communities to halt operations and the evacuation of people from the coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat.

Two of India 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 Saurashtra.

Seven teams of India's National Disaster Response Force and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force have been deployed in the districts likely to be affected by the storm, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said in a Tweet.