The lightning and gusty winds battered many parts of Maharashtra due to the cyclone Biparjoy
By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, June 13:
Four boys drowned at Juhu-Koliwada in North West Mumbai, while thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds battered many parts of Maharashtra even as the cyclone Biparjoy gushed over the Arabian Sea on Monday.
Four boys of age group 12 to 15 years drowned in seawater about half a km from the seashore at Juhu. Two boys were rescued by the local fishermen before the arrival of the Mumbai Fire brigade, Indian Navy officials stated.
The deceased was identified as Jay Roshan Tajbariya (15), Manish Yogesh Oganiya (12), Shubham Yogesh Oganiya (15), and Dharmesh Valji Faujiya (16). They hailed from the Vakola locality at Santacruz in North West Mumbai. They had ventured into the sea for swimming despite a warning by authorities to be away from the seafronts during the cyclonic storm.
The Indian Navy teams (FRT F/M) continued search operations using Jetski, life jackets even as high tide posed difficulty in search operations. The staff from BMC, Mumbai Fire Brigade, Mumbai Police, and 108 Ambulance Service were engaged in the rescue operations. The Indian Navy deployed a Seaking helicopter for the Search and Rescue operations. The divers from the Navy and Coast Guard were also requisitioned.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed two of its teams in addition to the already available three teams in Mumbai as a precautionary measure. The NDRF moved four other teams to Gujarat since Cyclone Biporjay is expected to have more impact there. A team in Pune has been kept on standby.
In another development at Ganpatipule tourist resort, in Ratnagiri in the Konkan region, several stalls along the seashore suffered heavy damage due to the tidal waves rising 10-14 in height. Fortunately, the tourists were saved from nature’s fury.
Trains cancelled.
As a precautionary measure, the Western Railway announced the cancellation of 67 long-distance trains till June 16. They included: Okha-Rajkot( 09480), Rajkot-Okha (09479), Veraval-Okha Express ( 19251), Okha- Veraval ( 19252), Okha- Delhi Sarak Rohila Special (09523) and Delhi-Okha ((09523)).
The cyclone which intensified into an “extremely severe cyclonic storm”, located in the East-Central Arabian Sea moved towards North-East with a speed of 8 km on Monday. It was about 550 km from Mumbai West and 450 km from Porbandar (Gujarat).
The severe storm is expected to reach Kutch in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan and make a landfall on June 15. The speed of wind is expected to be 125 to 135 km per hour. As such a high alert has been sounded along the Saurashtra and Kutch coast.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for the cyclone and instructed concerned officials to ensure the maintenance of essential services on Monday.
