Remnants of Cyclone Biparjoy bring very heavy rains in north Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Parts of north Gujarat received extremely heavy rains in the last 24 hours as the intensity of Cyclone Biparjoy gradually reduced from a very severe cyclonic storm to a "depression", officials said on Sunday.
Authorities were on their toes in Banaskantha and Patan districts and relocated thousands of people residing in low-lying areas to safer places, they said.
Remnants of Cyclone Biparjoy lay as a "depression" over south Rajasthan and it was likely to maintain its intensity on Sunday and bring rainfall in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The depression over central parts of south Rajasthan and neighbourhood moved east-northeast wards with a speed of 10 kmph during the past six hours and lay centered around 40 km east-southeast of Jodhpur, the IMD said in its Sunday morning bulletin.
It is very likely to continue to move east-northeastwards and maintain the intensity of depression during next 12 hours, it said.
As the cyclone receded further and reduced its intensity from a "very severe cyclonic storm" to "depression" after making landfall in Gujarat on Thursday evening, it brought extremely heavy rainfall in several parts of north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha and Patan, throwing normal life out of gear.
Amirgarh taluka in Banaskantha district was battered with 206 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 6 pm on Sunday, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.
Danta and Dhanera talukas in Banaskantha district received 168 and 164 mm rainfall, respectively.
Posina (151 mm) in Sabarkantha, as well as Dantiwada (150), Palanpur (136), Deesa (132) and Deodar (101)?? in Banaskantha, and Santalpur (134) and Radhanpur (125) in Patan districts were among talukas that received more than 100 mm rainfall during this period, the SEOC said.
Meanwhile, Kutch district received little rainfall on Saturday, following extremely heavy downpour for two days after Biparjoy made landfall as a "very severe cyclonic storm" near Jakhau coast in the district on Thursday.
The IMD has forecast light to moderate rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in north Gujarat and southwest and northeast Rajasthan regions on Sunday.
On Monday, most of southeast and northeast Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh may receive light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall, the IMD said in its forecast.
South Rajasthan and adjoining north Gujarat regions may experience squally wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph till Sunday evening before shifting to east Rajasthan and adjoining areas till Monday morning, it said.
Rainfall may cause inundation in low-lying areas and damage to loose structures, the IMD said.
The cyclone affected eight coastal districts of Gujarat the most, but the state reported no loss of life even authorities shifted more than one lakh people to safer places.
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Iran foreign minister Araghchi meets Pakistan Army chief Munir
Islamabad (PTI): Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday met Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir here, as Islamabad continued its efforts to facilitate engagement between the US and Iran.
The meeting, according to a short video posted by the Iranian embassy on social media, was also attended by Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, and Iran's ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam.
Araghchi calls on Munir, the embassy said in the video caption.
It did not provide further details about the discussions.
Araghchi arrived here late Friday for engagements with the Pakistani leadership. He was received by senior officials, including Munir, foreign minister Ishaq Dar and interior minister Mohsin Naqvi.
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However, there is no clarity on whether direct talks between Washington and Tehran will take place during the visit.
"No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US. Iran's observations would be conveyed to Pakistan," Baqaei said in a social media post on Saturday.
Araghchi, before leaving for Islamabad, said that he was embarking on a timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow, and the purpose of his visits is to "closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments".
"Our neighbours are our priority," he said.
As the Iranian team landed in Islamabad, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US Special Envoy on the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner would be leaving for Pakistan on Saturday "to engage in direct talks" with representatives of the Iranian delegation.
However, the US team has not yet arrived.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar, in a social media post, expressed hope for "meaningful engagements" between the two warring parties to promote regional peace and stability.
The first round of US-Iran talks held on April 11 and 12 failed to produce a breakthrough, prompting a flurry of diplomatic efforts by host Pakistan to cool tensions and revive hopes for another round of dialogue.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The Iran war began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes.
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