Nisarga will most likely intensify in a cyclone storm over the next 12 hours.
Mumbai:
Tropical storm “Nisarga”, which is heading towards the coasts of Maharashtra and Gujarat, is expected to intensify in a cyclone over the next 12 hours and is expected to hit tomorrow near Mumbai. It would be the first cyclonic storm to impact the financial capital of India, which has recorded more than 41,000 cases of coronavirus so far since 1882.
It could further intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” in the next 24 hours, the Indian Meteorological Department or IMD announced this morning. Mumbai and neighboring districts have been placed on alert.
“The low pressure over the east central Arabian Sea has moved north with a speed of 11 km / h in the past 06 hours, has intensified into a deep depression and has concentrated at 5.30 am IST today, June 02, 2020 over the central east of the Arabian Sea near latitude 15.0 N and longitude 71.2 E approximately 280 km west-south west of Panjim (Goa), 490 km south-southwest of Mumbai (Maharashtra) and 710 km south-southwest of Surat (Gujarat) “, said IMD this morning.
“It is very likely to intensify in a cyclone storm in the next 12 hours and further in a severe cyclone storm in the next 12 hours. It is very likely to move almost north to for the next 06 hours and then curves north-north-east thereafter and crosses north of Maharashtra and in the southern part of the south coast of Gujarat between Harihareshwar (Raigad, Maharashtra) and Daman in the afternoon noon of June 03, “said the press release.
Interior Minister Amit Shah met with Maharashtra’s chief minister Uddhav Thackeray by videoconference on Monday and reviewed the state’s readiness, the minister’s office said on Monday. .
Thirty-one National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been deployed to the two states. An NDRF team includes approximately 45 people. “Nisarga is a severe cyclone and we expect a wind speed of 90 to 100 km / h, which I think is negotiable. However, as a precaution, we will start evacuating people from coastal areas of the two states “(Maharashtra and Gujarat) soon,” said NDRF director general SN Pradhan.
A storm surge – as high as two meters above the astronomical tide – will flood the lower coastal areas of the districts of Mumbai, Thane and Raigad during the landing, the meteorological department said.
Fishermen were asked to return from the sea and the respective district collectors were asked to ensure that there was no loss of life, said a source from the office of the chief minister of Maharashtra. Hospitals that do not treat patients with coronavirus will be made available to those in need of medical assistance, he added.
The storm could cause significant damage to thatched houses, huts, power and communication lines and coastal crops, the meteorological department said.
Steps are being taken to ensure that there is no power outage at a time when the state is struggling with the coronavirus crisis and thousands of patients are being treated in various hospitals, a indicated on Monday the NDRF.
The tropical storm is expected to hit Mumbai a few days after Hurricane Amphan killed 99 people in Bengal and affected hundreds of thousands. “The people of these states have shown remarkable courage,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a monthly “Mann Ki Baat” radio address, adding that “India stood alongside Odisha and of West Bengal “.
