Before Ockhi, rain hits Mumbai
Alert against going near beaches, heavy rain expected all along south Gujarat coast
MUMBAI: With the tropical storm Cyclone Ockhi less than 300 km off Mumbai’s coast, Tuesday saw intermittent spells of heavy rain in the city and its surrounding regions all through the day.
While the city is expected to see rain on Wednesday, too, the disaster management cell said people have no reason to worry as, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Cyclone Ockhi will not have any more of a major impact on Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
“We urge Mumbaiites to stay calm as Cyclone Ockhi is around 230 km west-southwest of Mumbai and is likely to continue moving in the north-northeast direction, weakening gradually,” Mahesh Narvekar, head of the civic body’s disaster management cell said on Tuesday evening. “According to the IMD, the cyclone will cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra but will not impact Mumbai.”
Schools and colleges remained closed on Tuesday as a precautionary measure.
Heavy showers were reported from various parts of the island city as well as the suburbs.
Traffic was affected on both the Western Express Highway and the Eastern Express Highway because of the rain. Train services, however, have not been affected so far.
The civic body has issued a warning to people to stay away from the city’s beaches as high tide levels will be higher than usual - it is expected to touch five metres. On Tuesday morning, officials were spotted barricading entry points and roads leading to Dadar Chowpatty.
IMD officials said wind speed over the city in the morning was between 12 and 15 km/hr, but this is expected to increase as the cyclonic storm moves closer and develops into a deep depression. “There will be heavy rain all along south Gujarat coast,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD
The cyclone moved at a speed of 21kmph for six hours on early Tuesday morning over east-central Arabian Sea.
TN, ANDHRA FISHERMEN MUST NOT VENTURE OUT
Asking people not to panic in case of a cyclone alert, the National Disaster Management Authority said in an advisory that fishermen along and off Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu coasts should not venture into sea from December 6 to 8 while fishermen along and off Andaman and Nicobar Islands are advised not to venture into sea until Wednesday.
The NDMA said people when asked to evacuate, should move to a designate cyclone shelter with safety kit and store dry food and water in abundance, keep torch and hurricane lantern/ emergency light handy and keep listening to battery operated radio for latest information.
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC), headed by cabinet secretary PK Sinha, has been reviewing the rescue and relief operations being carried out in high seas and coastal areas hit by Cyclone Ockhi.