Around 160,000 people in India and Pakistan have been evacuated from the path of a fierce cyclone Biparjoy which is expected to make landfall near Jakhau port in Kutch district by Thursday evening.
Forecasters have warned that Cyclone Biparjoy - which means "disaster" in Bengali- could destroy homes and crops.
As many as 74,435 citizens so far to safe places from eight districts of Gujarat. 4,604 in Junagadh, 34,300 in Kutch, 10,000 in Jamnagar, 3,469 in Porbandar, 5,035 in Devbhoomi Dwarka, 1,605 in Gir Somnath, 9,243 in Morbi and 6,089 in Rajkot have been evacuated.
According to officials, the cyclone has the potential to leave a trail of destruction due to heavy rains accompanied by strong winds.
Giving updates on the rescue operation, relief commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey said that all the targeted people, who were found to be living in the low-lying areas, have been shifted to shelter homes by evening.
He said that the cyclone is likely to make landfall by Thursday evening as a "very severe cyclonic storm" with maximum wind speed reaching up to 150 kmph as recorded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
In Pakistan, the storm is expected to strike the coast of Sindh province. Authorities have already evacuated 81,000 people from the south-eastern coast and set up 75 relief camps at schools.
Pakistan's Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman said Karachi, the province's largest city with a population of more than 20 million, was not under immediate threat but emergency measures were being taken.
The "very severe cyclonic storm" was packing sustained winds with speeds up to 135 km (84 miles) per hour, and gusting up to 150 km (93 miles) per hour, meteorologists said. They have also warned high tides could inundate low-lying areas along the coasts.
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