Thousands of people were evacuated in low lying areas of Maharastra and Gujarat ahead of Cyclone Nisarga that is expected to hit the Indian’s western coast on Wednesday afternoon, reports Hindustan Times.
Mumbai and its metropolitan areas received rains since evening on Tuesday, which intensified later in the night, ahead of the expected landfall of Cyclone Nisarga in Alibaug in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast moderate rainfall in most parts of the metropolis and heavy to very heavy rainfall in isolated places over the next 24 hours.
The weather bureau said early on Wednesday that the cyclonic storm Nisarga lay centred over the east-central Arabian Sea about 280km west-northwest of Panjim in Goa, 250km south-southwest of Mumbai, 200km south-southwest of Alibagh in Maharashtra and 460km south-southwest of Gujarat’s Surat.
“It is very likely to intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm during next 06 hours. It is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, close to Alibagh in Raigad district, of Maharashtra during the afternoon as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 100-110kmph gusting to 120kmph,” it added.