UPDATE - Several deaths reported as Cyclone Biparjoy nears India, Pakistan coasts

UPDATES WITH DEATHS; ADDS MORE DETAILS; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGH

By Aamir Latif and Shuriah Niazi

KARACHI, Pakistan/NEW DELHI, India (AA) - At least four people were reported dead while thousands of people are being evacuated as a severe storm over the Arabian Sea nears coastal areas of India and Pakistan on Tuesday.

The deaths were reported in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after they ventured into rough seas.

The bodies of two of them have been found while the search for two others is underway, an official told local English daily Lokmat Times.

In neighboring Gujarat, 21,000 people have been evacuated as the state prepares for Cyclone Biparjoy, which is likely to make landfall in the Kutch district on Thursday.

“People from coastal districts have been moved to safer places,” State Commissioner of Relief Alok Kumar Pandey told the media.

The government is evacuating people living within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of the coast.

According to the India Meteorological Department, Cyclone Biparjoy has weakened from "extremely severe" to "very severe" but is still strong enough to cause widespread damage along the Gujarat coast.

Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the director general of India Meteorological Department, at a news conference in Delhi on Tuesday said: “Heavy to 'very heavy' rainfall in excess of 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) is expected over a few places of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, and Jamnagar districts in Gujarat.”

- 100,000 to be relocated in Pakistan

Rescue personnel Tuesday scrambled to relocate over 100,000 people from Pakistan's southeastern coastal belt as Cyclone Biparjoy drew closer to neighboring India.

Over 35,000 people from the coastal areas of Pakistan have already been evacuated, while operations are underway to relocate another 65,000, Salman Shah, the director general of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, told Anadolu.

Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for the residents of the coastal towns and villages of Thatta, Badin, and Sajawal districts in southern Sindh province, which are most likely to be hit by the cyclone.

Pakistan army and navy troops have been sent to the areas likely to be hit, assisting the civil administration in ongoing evacuations, the military said in a statement.

The cyclone is expected to make a landfall between the Keti Bandar coast of the Tahtta district and Mandvi in India's Gujrat province in the afternoon of June 15, with tides of up to 4 meters (about 13 feet), possibly flooding seaside areas.

In the southeastern districts of Thatta, Sajawal, Badin, Tharparkar, and Mirpur Khas, Biparjoy is likely to dump up to 400 millimeters (15.7 inches) of rainfall and pack squally winds of 80-100 km (50-62 mi) per hour, according to the latest alert issued by the Meteorological Department on Tuesday.

Although Karachi is not likely to take a direct hit from the cyclone, authorities have issued evacuation orders for several low-lying seaside areas, fearing flooding due to massive rains and high tides.

Voluntary evacuation orders have also been issued for a couple of residential areas near Karachi's famous Sea View Beach, given the severity of the cyclone.