STAY AWAY FROM SEA: HIGH WAVE ALERT IN CITY

MUMBAI: The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS) has warned Mumbaikars to stay away from the sea shore till 11:30pm on Sunday as high energy swell waves are likely to hit the coast.

The warning was issued as the height of swell waves – formed due to distant winds – could go up to 1.5 metres, said Sunil Kamble, head of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai. “This is not an unusual occurrence,” he said.

According to INCOIS, during phases of high tide till Sunday night, the “sea will be dominated by high energy swell waves in the near shore region and the low-lying areas may experience surges intermittently”.

The BMC has further cautioned fishermen to keep their boats at a distance from each other, so they don’t collide during the swell surges. Tourists and citizens have been requested not to go out into the sea and cooperate with officials.

The INCOIS alert was part of a forecast for swell surges in Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andaman, Nicobar, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

These surges started in the southern Atlantic Ocean on April 26, at a distance of around 10,000 km from Indian coast, and slowly moved towards the southern Indian Ocean around April 28, INCOIS said in a press statement.

“This caused high energy swell propagation towards the Indian coastal regions, which are expected to hit the southern tip of India in the early hours (02:30 AM) of May 4. The lowlying coastal areas are particularly vulnerable,” the statement noted.