ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered officials to put in place emergency measures in advance for Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabian Sea which is likely to cause flooding and rainstorms in low-lying areas of Karachi and Sindh province.
The Prime Minister's orders came in the wake of heavy rains in various areas of the country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pakistan's meteorological agency also issued an alert asking authorities to be prepared for Cyclone Biparjoy.
Earlier, experts predicted that the cyclone would spare Pakistan from any devastation and would only cause strong winds accompanied by rain in the coastal areas.
But the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) issued an alert late on Saturday night which said the cyclone over the east-central Arabian Sea was maintaining its intensity and had further tracked north-northeastward during the past 12 hours.
It was 840 km away from the port city of Karachi and was heading towards the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces. The cyclone is intensifying into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and could get stronger in the next 24 hours, reported The Dawn newspaper.
"The cyclone over the east-central Arabian Sea has formed an eye, indicating that the system has grown more organised and more powerful," chief meteorologist Sardar Sarfaraz was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
According to him, the cyclone is currently directed towards the coastal areas of Karachi, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tharparkar and the adjoining areas of Indian Gujarat.
"It's likely to make landfall on June 14 or 15 and will also hit the adjoining coastal areas of Indian Gujarat state. The situation will be clearer by Sunday evening," Sarfaraz said.
The authorities have already closed down the Seaview Beach in Karachi and also stopped fishermen and people going to coastal areas in Thatta, Badin, Sujawal and Jhimpar in Sindh.
The administration also banned fishing, sailing, swimming, and bathing at seas within the territorial limit of Karachi owing to the threat from June 11 till the end of the storm.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the open sea from June 11 onwards till the system is over, as the sea conditions may get very rough accompanied by high tides along the coast.