Gujarat spared as Ockhi dissipates

Ahmedabad, Dec. 6: The people of Gujarat and the state administration on Wednesday heaved a sigh of relief as Cyclone Ockhi dissipated over the Arabian Sea, sparing the poll- bound state.

The cyclone was yesterday headed towards Gujarat after leaving a trail of destruction on the southern Indian coast.

The cyclone on Tuesday passed the Mumbai coast and much to the relief of the people in Maharashtra’s capital, it just brought rains and there was no loss of life or damage to property.

As per an early morning release by the India M e t e o r o l o g i c a l Department ( IMD), the cyclonic storm first turned into a ' deep depression', then into a “depression” and finally into a ' low pressure' area after midnight.

“The depression over east- central and adjoining north- east Arabian Sea weakened into a wellmarked low pressure area over east central

Arabian sea and adjoining areas of north- east Arabian Sea, north coastal Maharashtra and south coastal Gujarat at 23: 30 hours on Tuesday," the release said.

The cyclone dissipated over the sea before hitting the Gujarat coast, said Jayanta Sarkar, the director of the MeT Centre here. “The cyclone did not reach Surat at all. It dissipated into the sea before making a landfall on the southern coast. From deep depression, it became a depression, then became a well marked low pressure. Now, it is just low pressure. It may bring light to moderate rain in some parts of state on wednesday,” said Mr Sarkar.

As per the IMD release, the sea condition would be rough along and off south Gujarat and adjoining north Maharashtra coasts during the next 12 hours.