A VERY severe cyclonic storm with winds gusting up to 185 km per hour began making landfall on the Gujarat coast on Monday night, after dumping heavy rains on Mumbai, forcing the evacuation of over 1.5 lakh people in Gujarat and leaving two barges with 410 people on board adrift in the Arabian Sea. Tropical storm ‘Tauktae’ (pronounced as Tau’Te) which had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm, lies close to the Gujarat coast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. “The landfall process has started and will continue during next two hours,” the IMD said. Six persons were killed in Maharashtra’s Konkan region in separate incidents related to the severe cyclonic storm and three sailors remained missing after two boats sank in the sea, officials said.

 

Three persons died in Raigad district, a sailor in Sindhudurg district and two persons were killed in Navi Mumbai and Ulhasnagar in Thane district after trees fell on them. Two boats with seven sailors on board, anchored in the Anandwadi harbour in Sindhudurg district capsized, an official statement said. As the cyclone moved past the Maharashtra coast in the morning, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport initially announced the suspension of operations from 11 am to 2 pm and later decided to keep all operations shut till 8 pm. Over 1.5 lakh people were shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat, while 54 teams of the NDRF and SDRF remained deployed, an official said. At least 17 COVID-19 patients on ventilator support in the Porbandar Civil Hospital’s ICU were shifted to other facilities on Monday as a precautionary measure because of cyclone Tauktae which is heading towards the Gujarat coast, an official said. The Centre has offered all help to Gujarat to deal with the cyclone and asked the Army, Navy and the Air Force to remain on standby to assist the administration if the need arises, the Gujarat Government said.

 

The Indian Coast Guard said it rescued 12 fishermen stranded around 35 nautical miles off the Kochi coast amid rough seas due to the cyclone on the night of May 16. Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat. Uddhav assesses damage caused by cyclone: MAHARASHTRA CM Uddhav Thackeray on Monday assessed the damage caused by cyclonic storm Tauktae in Mumbai and other districts in Konkan and asked officials to remain alert in view of the rainfall and gusty winds in the coastal region, where six persons died.

 

Thackeray asked the district administrations to remove fallen trees and electricity poles from roads and ensure smooth vehicular movement. The CM also reviewed the damage caused by the storm to boats of fishermen from the affected areas, the statement said. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Monday paid a visit to the BMC’s disaster management cell here to review the situation arising out of the cyclonic storm Tauktae and said the authorities are doing everything to keep the people of the city safe.