Rare cyclone to hit coasts of Gujarat, Maharashtra today
Storm surge may inundate low-lying areas
nNEWDELHI/MUMBAI: A deep depression over east-central Arabian Sea, which intensified into cyclone Nisarga on Tuesday noon, is expected to make landfall as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph near Alibaug (94 km from Mumbai) in Raigad district on June 3, the India Metereological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
It started as a warning on Sunday for mid-week heavy rains in Mumbai and by Monday, rapidly developed into a red alert for several coastal districts as the deep depression progressed over the Arabian Sea. As of Tuesday noon, cyclone Nisarga was 280 km westsouthwest of Goa, 490 km southsouthwest of Mumbai and 710 km south-southwest of Surat. IMD said that the cyclone was likely to cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Daman and Harihareshwar in Raigad on Wednesday afternoon.
The western coastline from Konkan’s Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri to Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar and other districts of Gujarat including Surat and Bharuch have received wind warnings ranging from 55-65 kmph (gusting
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to 75kmph) and increasing to speeds of 115-120kmph in four Maharashtra districts of Palghar, Mumbai, Thane and Raigad.
“The landfall location will be very close to Alibaug but extensive damage can be expected in
Mumbai also. For Mumbai, Thane and Raigad there can be storm surge of 1-2 metres and a warning for extremely heavy rainfall has been issued,” M Mohapatra, director general IMD, said.