Mumbai: As the Cyclone Nisarga whirls towards Maharashtra at steady pace, concerns were voiced at the nuclear and chemical plants that would fall in the direct path of the storm, here on Tuesday.
“Care is being taken to prevent power outages and precautions are being followed in chemical industries and the nuclear power plants in Palghar and Raigad,” Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said here in an update on the cyclone conditions.
Palghar has the country’s oldest Tarapur Atomic Power Plant complex, besides other power plants, while Mumbai has the BARC setup, and Raigad has sensitive power, petroleum, chemicals and other major industries located besides the Mumbai Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and other vital installations of Indian Navy.
As a precautionary measure, people living in non-pucca homes are being shifted to safer locations and slum-dwellers in low-lying areas have been ordered to evacuate.
Also Read: Besides Corona, Maharashtra braces to confront Cyclone ‘Nisarga’
At least 50 patients were shifted from the Bandra Kurla Complex Covid-19 hospital and relocated to the Goregaon NESCO hospital today.
The government has already deployed 10 NDRF units for rescue during the cyclone while 6 more are kept in reserve, besides teams on standby for emergencies like tree crashes, landslides, damage to houses, etc.
A 24×7 Control Room is operational and the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, and IMD have been instructed to ensure coordination.
The Western Naval Command (WNC) of Indian Navy said it is fully geared for emergency response during Cyclone Nisarga for flooding heavy rains, etc with five flood rescue teams and three diving teams, which will be in place throughout monsoon as well.
The state government has implemented stringent measures along the coastal Konkan region along with Mumbai to combat the approaching Cyclone Nisarga, expected to make landfall late tonight or early Wednesday.
The IMD has issued a Red Alert on June 3 for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, and Red Alert will continue on June 4 for Palghar, Dhule and Nandurbar, besides alerts for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.
In a warning today (June 2), the IMD Mumbai said that the depression over East Central Arabian Sea moved northwards at a speed of 11 kmph during early Tuesday and intensified into a deep depression around 5.30 am around 280 kms west-southwest of Goa and 490 kms south-southwest of Mumbai.
“It is very likely to intensify into Cyclonic Storm during next 12 hours and further into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during subsequently 12 hours (June 3),” the IMD bulletin said.
The storm is expected to move towards north later today and recurve north-northeastwards later to cross north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar (Raigad) and Daman by Wednesday afternoon.
The IMD has advised DC-I signal at all ports in north Maharashtra and hoist signal No. LC-III at all ports in south Maharashtra and Goa.
Besides Thackeray, appeals have been made by other ruling allies Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, asking people to stay indoors during the expected cyclonic storm and cooperate with the authorities.
The upcoming cyclone will put further stress on the security forces already burdened by the Covid-19 pandemic duties in the worst-hit Mumbai Metropolitan Region – most falling in the Coronavirus Red Zone – since the past nearly three months now.
The IMD Mumbai has also forecast “very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy rainfall very likely to occur in isolated places” in Mumbai and districts of north Konkan, even as drizzles or light showers continued to soak Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad since Monday.-Inputs from IANS
