As cyclone Nisarga is expected to hit Mumbai, Thane and other parts of Maharashtra tomorrow, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has placed 10 teams on standby, while the Mumbai Police have started relocating the homeless to temporary shelters.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has kept its disaster management control room and all necessary departments on high alert. All 24 ward offices have been ordered to relocate people living in flood-prone areas to nearby schools.As Mumbai is bracing up to face cyclone Nisarga, nearly 250 COVID-19 patients are being shifted from the facility at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) to the COVID centre at the NSCI Centre in Worli.
The MMRDA’s Bandra Kurla Complex facility is a field hospital that has been built under a German Tent, while the NSCI facility is within a massive indoor stadium.
The MMRDA has stated that the BKC COVID-19 hospital could sustain strong winds of up to 80km-100km per hour, but the move was taken as a precautionary measure and they were also taking adaptive measures to strengthen the facility.
Deep depression in Arabian Sea intensifies into cyclone
“Deep depression intensified into a cyclonic storm around noon today,” IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said.
The cyclone has been named ‘Nisarga’ The name has been proposed by Bangladesh, Mr. Mohapatra said.
It is likely to turn into a ‘severe cyclonic storm’ by Tuesday night, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.
3.10 PM
PM reviews cyclonic conditions in western coast
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took stock of the situation in the wake of cyclonic conditions in western India.
“Took stock of the situation in the wake of cyclone conditions in parts of India’s western coast,” the prime minister tweeted.
“Praying for everyone’s well-being. I urge people to take all possible precautions and safety measures,” he said.
3.00 PM
Over 20,000 people to be evacuated from Gujarat
With Gujarat bracing for the approaching cyclonic storm ‘Nisarg’, the Valsad and Navsari district administrations have started evacuating nearly 20,000 people from 47 villages located close to the State's coastline.
As a precautionary measure, the district administrations of Valsad and Navsari have started shifting people living near the coast to safer places.
“We have deployed our teams to shift nearly 10,000 people living in 35 coastal villages. We have already identified shelter homes and started the evacuation process,” Valsad Collector R R Raval said.
In adjoining Navsari district also, the administration has initiated the process of shifting some 10,200 people from 12 villages, Collector Ardra Agarwal said. - PTI
2.10 PM
33 teams deployed in Maharashtra, Gujarat: NDRF DG
Thirty-three NDRF teams have been deployed in the coastal districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat in view of the impending Cyclone Nisarga, the chief of the federal contingency force said.
In a video message, NDRF Director General (DG) S N Pradhan said, “Gujarat and Maharashtra have 11 and 10 teams respectively and they are being deployed in the coastal districts facing the Arabian Sea“.
On Gujarat’s request, five more teams are being airlifted to the state from Punjab, he said.
Gujarat will have a total of 17 NDRF teams, including two on standby, and neighbouring Maharashtra 16 teams, including six on standby, he said.
1.30 PM
13 fishing boats from Palghar still in sea as cyclone nears
As Maharashtra prepares for the approaching cyclone, 13 boats of fishermen from Palghar are still out in the sea and efforts are being made to get them back to the shore quickly, authorities said on Tuesday.
As many as 577 fishing boats from Palghar had earlier gone out in the sea and till Monday evening, 477 returned, Collector Kailas Shinde said.Efforts were made to bring the remaining 100 also back to the shore. “Now, only 13 boats were left out in the sea,” Mr. Shinde said.The number of fishermen on these boats was not known.
The district administration is taking help of the Coast Guard and officials of the fisheries department to get the remaining boats back, Palghar’s disaster management cell chief Vivekanand Kadam said.
Alert sounded in many rural parts of Pune district
While the risk from Cyclone Nisarga to Pune district may be relatively low as compared to Mumbai city and districts in the Konkan division, a number of tehsils in the district’s rural parts have been placed on ‘high alert’, said authorities on Tuesday.
Ayush Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pune Zilla Parishad, said that immediate preventive measures were being taken to ensure that there was no loss to life and minimal damage to property.
Very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm: IMD
The Deep Depression over East Central Arabian Sea now lies 450 km south-southwest of Mumbai.
According to India Meteorological Department's release issued at 11.30 a.m., it is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm during next six hours and further into a severe cyclonic storm during subsequent 12 hours.
Since it will recurve and cross north Maharashtra between Harihareshwar and Daman, close to Alibaug on Wednesday afternoon, IMD has already issued a red alert for Mumbai.
Besides, IMD has issued a storm surge warning for Mumbai: "Storm surge of 1-2 meters above astronomical tide is very likely to inundate low lying areas of Mumbai during the time of landfall". IMD has issued warnings as it expects major damage to huts, roof tops may blow off, unattached metal sheets may fly, damage to roads, power and communication lines, breaking of tree branches.
Even as IMD has not specified where the cyclone will make a landfall, Mahesh Palawat, vice president, meteorology and climate change at private forecaster Skymet Weather tweeted on Tuesday morning, "Now #CycloneNisarga seems to head north of #Mumbai, towards #Palghar and #Dahanu. #Mumbaikars to brace up for very heavy #rains and gale force winds. Crucial time is between evening of June 2nd and afternoon of June 3rd."
Storm surge warning for Mumbai
IMD has also issued a storm surge warning for Mumbai. "Storm surge of 1-2 meters above astronomical tide is very likely to inundate low lying areas of Mumbai during the time of landfall."
IMD has issued warnings as it expects major damage to huts and roof tops being blow off. Unattached metal sheets may fly and damage to roads, power and communication lines is expected. There may be breaking of tree branches too.
Even as IMD has not specified where the cyclone will make a landfall, Mahesh Palawat, Vice President, meteorology and climate change at private forecaster Skymet Weather tweeted on Tuesday morning asking Mumbaikars to brace up for very heavy rains and gale force winds.
