Gujarat, Maha in the path of Cyclone Ockhi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cyclone Ockhi, which left behind a trail of destruction in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep, is expected to make landfall in Gujarat Tuesday night, which may cause heavy rains in the state and adjoining Maharashtra.

An I ndia Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast said, “The severe cyclonic storm Ockhi is now laid centred about 850km south-southwest of Surat and is likely to cross south Gujarat and adjoining North Maharashtra coasts near Surat as a deep depression by midnight of December 5.”

“We have issued heavy rainfall warnings for Gujarat, while light to moderate rain is expected in isolated areas in north Konkan, including Mumbai, on Tuesday,” IMD’S director general KJ Ramesh said.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai and adjoining districts have been asked to remain closed on Tuesday due to “serious weather predictions”, Maharashtra’s school education minister Vinod Tawde said.

The impact of the cyclone will be seen in Palghar, Thane, Raigarh, and Greater Mumbai districts of Maharashtra and Valsad, Surat, Navsari, Bharuch, Dang, Tapi, Amreli, Gir-somnath and Bhavnagar of Gujarat.

Union Territories Daman, Diu and Dadra, Nagar Haveli will also be affected.

The scale of the cyclone was reduced from ‘very severe’ on Sunday to ‘severe’, the weather department said. It has warned fisherman along the Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka coastline not to venture into the sea from Monday to Wednesday.

The high winds and persistent rains hit the southern districts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu last week and caused loss to life and property. The death toll climbed to 28 in Kerala after a rescue team recovered two more bodies on Monday and officials said at least 90 people were still missing.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that representatives of fishermen will also be included in the ongoing search operation to rescue the missing in Kerala.

A naval ship on Monday located a fishing boat with nine crew members, reportedly missing from Kochi since the last 15 days, off Lakshadweep, a defence spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, in a move to help the damaging consequences of cyclone Ockhi, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday sent ₹2 crore to the Prime Minister’s relief fund.