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Mumbai: Soon after battering Mumbai with heavy rains and storm, the tropical Cyclone Tauktae which has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm is now hurtling northwards Gujarat coast with a speed of about 20 km per hour and will make landfall as an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” by Monday night between 8 pm and 11 pm, the IMD said. IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had informed that cyclone Tauktae is very likely to cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district around the early morning of May 18. He further said that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected to occur in coastal areas of Gujarat on May 18. Meanwhile, some places may experience extremely heavy rainfall.
To avoid any untoward incident, the Gujarat government has so far evacuated over 1.5 lakh people to safer places and also mobilised disaster response teams. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also called up Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and took stock of the preparations to deal with the cyclonic storm. The prime minister assured the state government of all possible help to deal with the situation. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Chief Minister Vijay Rupani over the phone and sought details of preparation by the state government to deal with cyclone Tauktae,” the Chief Minister’s Office said in a release.
Fishermen pull their boat ashore to a safe place during formation of cyclone Tauktae, at Bandra in Mumbai, Monday, May 17, 2021. (PTI Photo)
As the cyclone raged past Mumbai and is getting closer to the Gujarat coast, over 1.5 lakh people have been 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 also shifted to other facilities on Monday as a precautionary measure because of cyclone Tauktae which is heading towards the Gujarat coast.
Meanwhile, nearly 962 people from Dholera village in Ahmedabad have been evacuated to about 38 shelters that have been set up in the area as the state braces for the impact of the incoming cyclone Tauktae. Sandeep Sagle, Ahmedabad district collector informed that in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all individuals evacuated to centres are undergoing rapid antigen tests.
He added that six shelters operating in six villages of Ahmedabad have the capacity to accommodate up to 2,400 people. “About 4,000-5,000 food packets will be prepared in collaboration with charitable organizations,” the District Collector added.
On Monday, a total of six persons were killed in Maharashtra’s Konkan region in separate incidents related to the severe cyclonic storm ‘Tauktae’ while three sailors remained missing after two boats sank in the sea, a statement and officials said. Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has also suspended all air services till 8 pm due to the cyclone ‘Tauktae’ and heavy rains.
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