New Delhi: Cyclone ‘Nisarga’ will make landfall along the Maharashtra coast on Wednesday with high wind speed ranging up to 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph besides heavy rainfall and storm in Mumbai and other coastal areas of the state, the Home Ministry said.
The storm is likely to impact Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of Maharashtra like Raigad and Palghar along with Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Bhavnagar and Bharuch districts of Gujarat and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Preparations for the impending cyclone were discussed at a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, a Home Ministry statement said.
— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) June 2, 2020
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Movement of people along the Mumbai coastline has been prohibited from midnight to Thursday afternoon, the city police said on Tuesday.
An order under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was being issued, the police said.
The NDRF has deployed 40 teams in Maharashtra, Gujarat and UT of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Additional teams are also being airlifted. Rescue and relief teams of the Indian Army and the Indian Navy along with ships and aircrafts of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force have been put on standby. Ships of the Indian Coast Guard are already engaged in rescuing fishermen at sea.
In this satellite image taken from India Meteorological Department (IMD) at 19:30 IST shows a depression formed by Cyclone Nisarga. Photo: PTI
Officers of state governments and the UT apprised the NCMC of preparatory measures taken by them. They also assured that adequate stocks of essential supplies were available with them and that all emergency services were in readiness.
Bulk SMS facility provided by Telecom Department was being used to warn residents likely to be affected by the cyclone and evacuation of people was also underway.
Reviewing the preparedness of the states and central agencies, the cabinet secretary directed that all necessary measures be taken to complete evacuation of people from low-lying areas lying in the cyclone’s path and ensure the return of all fishermen from the sea, the statement said.
The states and central agencies were told that special efforts may be made to ensure that essential medical services to COVID patients are not disrupted.
Mass evacuations in Gujarat
The Gujarat government has evacuated over 78,000 people from four districts located near the coastline and deployed 19 teams of NDRF and SDRF, officials have said.
“A total of 78,971 persons living near the seashore in Valsad, Surat, Navsari and Bharuch districts will be shifted to safer locations. 1,727 villagers have already been shifted,” Gujarat Relief Commissioner Harshad Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar on Tuesday.
Patel said rescue teams have been given PPE kits in view of the coronavirus pandemic and they have also been directed to take precautionary measures like maintaining social distancing and providing masks to evacuees at rescue shelters.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday indicated that the cyclonic storm might not make a landfall on the Gujarat coast.
“However, it will bring gusty winds coupled with heavy rainfall in the coastal belt,” state MeT centre director Jayanta Sarkar said.
Boats are anchored at a dock due to a red alert for Cyclone Nisarga, in Ratnagiri district, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Photo: PTI
Politics over preparedness
Maharashtra BJP MLA Ashish Shelar took to Twitter to say he was “shocked” to note the BMC’s disaster management cell for cyclone Nisarga will start functioning on Tuesday.
Shelar asked when Mumbai’s disaster management plan will be activated.
Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar trashed Shelar’s charges, saying minute-to-minute information is being received by the BMC’s disaster management cell and the civic body’s personnel are on their toes.
Pednekar said Shelar is not an astrologer and cannot predict that the BMC has failed even before the examination is held.
The disaster management cell is receiving information regarding the cyclone every minute, Pednekar told a Marathi news channel.
