New Delhi: The IMD said that the very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy is expected to intensify further in the next 24 hours. The IMD on Saturday said that the Biparjoy cyclone will move north-northeastwards.

According to the IMD sources it is currently located about 690 km west of Goa, 640 km west-southwest of Mumbai and 640 km south-southwest of Porbandar, is packing winds of up to 145 kilometers per hour.

IMD has warned that the storm could cause heavy rain and strong winds in coastal areas of Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra. IMD in a tweet said that very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy at 23:30 hrs IST of 9th June over east-central Arabian Sea near lat 16.0N & long 67.4E. Likely to intensify further & move north-northeastwards during the next 24hrs.

Tithal Beach, has been closed for tourists untile June 14^th to high waves and strong winds in anticipation of Cyclone Biparjoy in Gujarat’s Valsad on the Arabian Sea coast. IMD told fishermen not to go into the sea for fishing and they all have come back. The fisherman families will be shifted to the village at the seashore if needed. Shelters have been made for them, said Valsad Tehsildar TC Patel.

It may reach South Gujarat on Sunday or Monday. Presently, we are on alert mode and all officials were advised not to leave the headquarter. Surat Collector BK Vatsava said that the SDRF teams have been kept on standby mode while people of the coastal village had been alerted. If needed, they were told, they will have to be shifted to safer places.

The cyclone was named Biparjoy by Bangladesh. The name means disaster or calamity in Bengali.