Our Correspondent
Mumbai, June 4:
The intensity of the cyclone “Nisarga”, which struck coastal Konkan belt and other parts of Maharashtra, was weakened and the depression moved towards Nashik, Dhule and adjoining areas of North Maharashtra on Thursday, even as four lives were lost due to nature’s fury.
The deceased included: a 58-year-old man died after an electric pole fell on him at Umte village in Alibag, a 17-year-old boy Amar Jawlekar, was killed in wall collapse in Shrivardhan (Raigad), a 52 year man Prakash Mokar died, while salvaging a roof of his house in Haveli (Pune) and a 65 year old woman Manjabai Navale, who died in a wall collapse in Khed (Pune).
The Raigad district suffered maximum loss, since a sizable number of trees were uprooted, electric poles were ripped out and tin sheds flew away. The rains caused heavy damage to orchids in Alibaug and other areas and the roads were seen strewn with fruits and branches fallen from trees. Over 25 lakh power consumers were left without power in 4 districts-Raigad, Palghar, Thane and Pune. The work of restoring power supply was on by the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDC), which supplies power to nearly 2.7 crore consumers in the state.
In Velhe ( Pune), the roofs of three schools and a grampanchayat office were blown off. Similarly 79 houses suffered heavy damage and 36 huts were totally destroyed in Mulshi taluka in the same district..
In the cyclone which slammed the Maharashtra with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, the Mumbai was largely unscathed, although many trees were uprooted in the city and suburbs. A cargo aircraft (McDonnell Douglas) belonging to FedEx overshot the main runway of the Mumbai airport on its arrival from Bengaluru amid cyclone. It was towed away from the runway.
Several evacuation operations were conducted in coastal Maharashtra and south Gujarat by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) along with the help of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), armed forces and the state police.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the resilience showed by people and officials helped in “mitigating the intensity” of the cyclone ‘Nisarga’. “Thanking all who protected Maharashtra along with Mumbai in the face of the “Nisarga”, which was hovering over the state at a time when it is grappling with COVID-19. But we all warded it off. The people and administration fought hard and mitigated the intensity of the crisis,” the chief minister said in a statement.
In the meanwhile Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and other parts of Maharashtra continued to receive intermittent rainfall on Thursday.
