New Delhi (NVI): A week after cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal and Odisha, India is now bracing for another cyclone that is headed towards the coastline of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Cyclone ‘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, according to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
Nisarga, a tropical storm, which is headed towards the coasts in Maharashtra and Gujarat, is likely to intensify into a cyclone in the next 12 hours and is expected to make landfall close to Mumbai tomorrow, the weather department said.
Deep Depression to intensify into Cyclonic Storm during next 6 hours. To cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, close to Alibag (Raigad District, Maharashtra) during the afternoon of 03rd June. https://t.co/rXRAo26pyF pic.twitter.com/lOJUD8FMFP
— IMD Weather (@IMDWeather) June 2, 2020
According to IMD, the storm may further intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” in the next 24 hours. Mumbai and its neighbouring districts in Maharashtra have been placed on high alert.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted and said that he took stock of the situation in the wake of cyclone conditions in parts of India’s western coast. He has urged people to “take all possible precautions and safety measures.”
Took stock of the situation in the wake of cyclone conditions in parts of India’s western coast.
Praying for everyone’s well-being. I urge people to take all possible precautions and safety measures.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2020
Notably, this is the first cyclonic storm to hit Mumbai in over a century. The financial capital also braces for heavy rains and gale as the storm inches closer.
“The storm is very likely to intensify into a Cyclonic Storm during the next 12 hours and further into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during the subsequent 12 hours,” IMD said.
Nisarga is very likely to move nearly northwards during the next 6 hours and recurve north-northeastwards thereafter and cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman on June 3.
31 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in both the states.
According to the weather reports, a storm surge – as high as two meters above the astronomical tide – will inundate the low-lying coastal areas of Mumbai, Thane and Raigad districts during the landfall.
