Cyclone NISARG To Make Landfall In Mumbai Today; NDRF Teams Ready

NEW DELHI: Tropical storm ‘Nisarga’, which is headed towards the coast in Gujarat and Maharashtra is expected to make landfall close to Mumbai TODAY (June 3). Mumbai and the neighbouring districts have been placed on high alert by the government.

Nisarga is a severe cyclone and the deployed team has been expecting a wind speed of 90-100 kmph. As a precautionary measure, the NDRF has started the evacuation of people from the coastal area of both the states.

Director-General of NDRF S N Pradhan has said that 11 teams of NDRF have been deployed in Gujarat and 10 teams in Maharashtra in view of Cyclone Nisarga.

Gujarat had asked for five more teams, which were then airlifted from Punjab and reached the state yesterday evening.

Two teams are in standby for Gujarat and six teams in standby for Maharashtra.

The NDRF DG informed that the evacuation process and awareness drive has started. He said, although the Cyclone is not in the extremely Severe category, all precautions are being taken.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay Rupani and Administrator of Daman Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Praful K Patel regarding the cyclonic storm situation. He assured all possible support and assistance from the Centre.

As per the CMO Maharashtra,  Union Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackrey through a video conference to review the state’s preparedness. 31 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already been deployed to both the states.

As per IMD, the depression over the east-central Arabian Sea is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm. It will likely move near northwards during the next 06 hours and will recurve north-northeastwards thereafter and cross north Maharashtra and adjoining South Gujarat Coast between Harihareshwar (Raigad, Maharashtra) and Daman at the afternoon of June 3.

Fishermen have also been asked to come back from the sea and the district collectors of the concerned areas in both states have been asked to ensure that there is no loss of life.

The storm may also cause major damage to thatched houses, power and communication lines, huts, and coastal crops.

• NDRF also mentioned that steps are being taken to ensure that there will be no disruption of the power supply when the states have already been battling the COVID-19 crisis and thousands of patients have been undergoing treatment.

Maharashtra Anxious But Prepared:

It will be the first cyclonic storm that will impact the financial capital of the country.

A storm surge as high as two meters above the astronomical tide will reach the low lying coastal areas of Mumbai, Raigad, and Thane districts during the landfall.

Maharashtra Chief Minister’s office informed that fishermen have been asked to come back from the sea and district collectors are asked to ensure that there is no loss of life in the respective regions.

It was also informed that the hospitals that have not been treating Coronavirus patients will be available for those needing medical assistance during the storm.

Gujarat On A High Alert Too:

Gujarat Chief Minister, Vijay Rupani held a high-level meeting on June 1 to review the measures that will be taken to handle the cyclone.

He informed his team that the formation will cause wind speeds of 90-100 km/hr with heavy rain across Navsari, Surat, Daman, Dang, Valsad, and Bharuch in South Gujarat and Bhavnagar and Amreli in Coastal Saurashtra region.

As per the CM of Gujarat, the government has already deployed 10 NDRF and 5 SDRF to handle the cyclone crisis. As the districts have been put on high alert, the hospitals treating COVID-19 patients have been asked to ensure that there are adequate alternative electricity supply arrangements.

A 24- hour control room to monitor the cyclone situation has already been set up in Gandhinagar.

from League of India