Cyclone Nisarga makes landfall, 60,000 evacuated in India

The Maharashtra government has evacuated around 60,000 people including hundreds of COVID-19 patients from the state’s coastal region of Konkan in the wake of Cyclone Nisarga that started making landfall at the coast at around 11:40am.

“We have evacuated almost 60,000 people from districts such as Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar and Thane. The number is likely to increase,” media report said quoting Kishor Raje Nimbalkar, secretary, relief and rehabilitation department.

They were evacuated from coastal region with the help of disaster management authorities and were given shelter at different facilities including school buildings and auditoriums in the state.

However, the authorities also shifted animals from Byculla Zoo into their holding areas at the zoo to avoid any damage to the animals and the reptiles from the tree falls.

More than 500 emergency response forces have been deployed to meet any emergencies arises due to cyclone.

This is the second cyclone that hit India in two weeks and the first such storm that hit Mumbai – the worst-hit city in the country by coronavirus.

According to India Meteorological Department, cyclone Nisarga started making landfall at 11:30am today at south of Alibag in Maharastra’s Raigad district with strong winds of 120 to 140kmph, higher than expected, making it the second severe cyclone to hit Mumbai since 1961.

RK Jenamani, a senior scientist at the weather forecast department, said Cyclone Nisarga will gradually enter Mumbai and Thane districts. “Landfall is just beginning. It will take three hours to complete the process,” he added.

The cyclone was about 500km in size when it was in the ocean and its wind speed ranged from 110 to 120 kmph.