The very severe cyclone Biparjoy is all set to intensify over the next 36 hours and will be moving north-northwestwards in the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Friday.
According to the Indian weather department, on Thursday (11:30 pm, IST), the cyclone was over the east-central Arabian Sea and was located 840 km west-southwest of Goa and 870 km west-southwest of Mumbai.
Rough weather conditions are predicted in India's coastal states – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, and Goa.
Most of the southern Indian coastal states are likely to witness rainfall for five days.
Cyclone Biparjoy came when India was expecting the onset of monsoon season in the coastal state of Kerala. The storm is not likely to impact the overall Monsoon prediction in India, the weather department predicts.
However, the IMD has maintained that the monsoon will be on time (as predicted).
In the southern Indian state of Kerala, the monsoon arrived on Thursday, followed by the arrival of monsoon in some parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states.
According to officials, fishermen in the west Indian state of Gujarat's coastal Porbandar district have been asked to return to the coast from deep sea areas and ports have been instructed to hoist a Distant Warning signal (DW II).
As part of cyclone preparedness, the state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. has already evacuated some of its employees on the drill ship Sagar Vijay in the Arabian Sea.
Meanwhile, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd. and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. have also taken precautionary measures.