Mandvi in Kutch district is expected to face the brunt of cyclone Biparjoy.
Nearly one lakh people have been shifted to shelters in Gujarat as the western state braces for cyclone Biparjoy, which is expected to make landfall this evening. Despite the cyclone just hours away from the coast, some villagers in the state are putting their safety at risk by returning to their homes to feed their pets.
"I came here to feed my horse. We need to take care of our pets," said one villager in Mandvi in Kutch district, which is one of the places where cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall between 4-6 pm.
The administration has not made any arrangements for the villagers to keep their pets as a result of which villagers are forced to return to their homes to feed them.
At present, cyclone Biparjoy is about 150 km from the Gujarat coast.
Classified as a "very severe cyclonic storm" of category 3, cyclone Biparjoy is expected to cross Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi and Karachi near Jakhau Port, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Cyclone Biparjoy is likely to carry a maximum wind speed of 115-125 kmph, it said.
The cyclone is likely to bring extremely heavy rainfall in Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts. The administration has shifted people from nearly 120 villages located between zero and 10 km from the seashore in Kutch district.
Eighteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 12 of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), 115 teams of state road and building department, and 397 of the state electricity department have been deployed in different coastal districts.
The Ministry of Defence said that all armed forces including the Army, Navy, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard have made necessary preparation to provide assistance to the local people of Gujarat.