Cyclone...

It will then re-curve northnortheastwards and cross north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts during June 3 afternoon, which is when it is likely to make landfall.

Meanwhile, in a press note issued on Monday, the chief minister’s office stated that special instructions have been given to officials to see how Covid-19 positive patients in temporary, makeshift arrangements can be shifted to safer locations. Non-covid hospitals will also have to be made available to tackle the disaster, the note said.

Thackeray also had a videoconference with home minister Amit Shah on the state’s preparedness. If need be, NDRF teams from other states can also be utilised to tackle the emergency, Shah is said to have told Thackeray. Of the 16 teams, 10 NDRF teams are on alert and 6 state disaster response force teams are also on standby.

The chief minister has also asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shift slum dwellers staying in low-lying areas of the city. Those living in “kutcha houses” across the coastline of the seven districts have been asked to be shifted to safer locations. “People leaving near the coastline are being informed about the cyclone via loudspeakers already,” the note stated.

The state is also taking precautions to ensure there is no power failure and the chemical industries in Palghar and Raigad districts have been asked to take extra precautions. Meanwhile, BMC chief, IS Chahal, said the government machinery is on high alert. The BMC also urged Mumbaiites to take necessary precautions and remain alert. These include not approaching the sea, or standing under a tree or a pole, and not leaving home, its advisory said.

BMC’S main disaster management control room, and control rooms at all wards are working on maximum available manpower, and the Mumbai Fire Brigade, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy and Coast Guard are on stand-by for emergencies, BMC said on Monday.

Hospitals in Mumbai, which have been working at high capacity during the Covid-19 outbreak, have been asked to ensure they have ample electricity supply to keep the systems running.

All assistant commissioners heading 24 wards in the city are identifying residents in highrisk zones of the cyclone and its effects, who will be moved to nearby municipal schools for safety, the BMC said. Emergency protocols of all petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and big industries around and in Mumbai have been activated. They have been asked not to use generators. suburbs. The weather bureau has predicted a cloudy sky with moderate rain or thundershowers for Tuesday morning, with the possibility of heavy rain by the evening.

HT had reported on Sunday that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted rain and thundershowers for Mumbai from June 1 onwards.

“Pre-monsoon showers over the city are under the influence of the low-pressure weather system over Arabian Sea, which is moving steadily closer to the west coast and is likely to intensify into a (weather) depression soon. It has brought relief to Mumbaiites from the high humidity experienced over the past week,” said an IMD official.

Under the influence of the prevailing weather systems in Arabian Sea, the Maharashtra coast, especially north Konkan, is very likely to experience an active wet spell between June 1 and 4, the official added.

The IMD will be releasing information later on Monday on further intensification of the weather system and where it may make landfall between north Maharashtra and south Gujarat.

The Maharashtra government on Sunday said it was prepared to deal with the tropical cyclone if it made landfall along the coastline. “A cyclone may land on our western coast in a couple of days. Though I feel this may not happen and the cyclone may change its direction, we are prepared. I am telling people from Sindhudurg to Mumbai, to be prepared. I urge our fishermen from going to the sea for four to five days,” said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, in his address to the state on Sunday.

Meanwhile, if the weather system in Arabian Sea intensifies into a tropical cyclone, it will be the first cyclonic storm to make landfall along the Maharashtra coast during June since 1891. Only two weather depressions, one in 1948 and the other in 1980, came close to the coastline, but did not intensify into a cyclone.