IT News
Mumbai, June 2:
The Cyclone “Nisarga” is likely hit Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat due to a depression in the east-central and adjoining south-east Arabian Sea, with expected rainfall of 100 mm and the wind speed at 125 kmph in the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated here.
A week after a raging cyclone wreaked havoc in West Bengal, the country is now bracing to face another cyclone which is headed towards the coastline of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
While a ‘yellow’ alert has been sounded by weather department, as a precaution NDRF teams have already landed in Konkan costal of Maharashtra. Two NDRF teams have been deployed in Palghar, three teams in Mumbai, one in Thane, 2 teams in Raigad and one team in Ratnagiri. The a cyclonic storm in 12 hours and then a severe cyclonic storm, with heavy rainfall in subsequent 12 hours has been forecast in neighbouring Pune till 4 June.
On Tuesday morning the trees were seen swaying due to heavy wind speed in Palghar and adjoining areas. The administration of these districts was in the process of evacuating and shifting the people along the shoreline to relief centres.
The low lying areas in Mumbai are likely to be affected with gusty winds during the downpour. As a precaution in Mumbai, the administration shifted patients from the COVID-19 field hospital set up a Bandra-Kurla Complex located in North West Mumbai on Tuesday. Besides, measures to prevent water logging at field facility at NSE, Goregaon in North Mumbai were on. Mumbai and adjoining areas has been receiving mild showers since Monday and the skies continue to remain overcast.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has requested fisheremen to avoid venturing into the sea for the next two to three days as a cyclone is expected to hit the Arabian Sea.
“Nisarga” currently lies as a depression 490 km from Mumbai, 280 km from Goa’s capital city and 710 km from Surat district in Gujarat. It could be the first tropical cyclone in 129 years to hit Maharashtra in the month of June. At the moment, the storm is brewing in the Arabian sea near Lakshadweep. The IMD had earlier issued an orange alert for Mumbai and Thane and a red alert for Palghar. This threat comes at a time when Maharashtra is already struggling with a dramatic rise in its number of coronavirus cases — already past the 70,000 mark.
“The depression over the east-central Arabian Sea which moved northwards with a speed of 11 kmph during past 6 hours, intensified into a deep depression and lay centred at 5.30 hours IST, near latitude 15.0 N and longitude 71.2 E about 280 km west-southwest of Panjim (Goa), 490 km south-southwest of Mumbai (Maharashtra) and 710 km south-southwest of Surat (Gujarat)” the IMD stated.
Since the cyclone is expected to hit some parts of neighbouring Gujarat, the state government has put 6 districts on high alert and has asked people living in low lying areas of 159 villages of the coastal regions to shift to safer places.