Cyclone Nisarga made a landfall at Alibaug leaving a trail of destruction in the area. While the coastal town bore the brunt of the cyclonic storm Nisarga, the cyclone didn't do much damage to life and man-made structures in Mumbai, though hundreds of trees collapsed across the city. (Pictures/Sameer Markande, Satej Shinde, Suresh Karkera, Nimesh Dave, Bipin Kokate, Shadab Khan, Pradeep Dhivar, Atul Kamble)
Updated On: 2020-06-04 09:30 AM IST
Cyclonic storm Nisarga made a landfall in Alibaug on the Maharashtra coast on Tuesday, that led to incidents of trees felling due to gusty winds, vehicles being damaged and water logging reported from several areas of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane. A few instance of power outages were also reported in few areas.
As predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra received heavy to very heavy rainfall. In its bulletin, the weather agency had said that the landfall process started at 12.30 pm and got completed in the next 3 to 4 hours.
In order to ensure that cyclone Nisarga did not wreak havoc in the state, the Maharashtra government had taken adequate mesaures by deploying National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) teams across the state. Even the Indian Coast Guard Region (West) had mobilised eight disaster relief teams at the coastal areas of Dahanu, Mumbai, Murud, Janjira, and Ratnagiri to respond to any humanitarian assistance and disaster relief due to cyclone Nisarga.
In view of the cyclonic storm Nisarga, IndiGo Airline had cancelled 17 flights to and from Mumbai while Central Railway had also rescheduled eight trains which were supposed to arrive or depart from Mumbai. As Mumbai braced for the onset of the storm, Mumbai Police had issued prohibitory orders restricting any presence or movement of persons in public places along the coast.
In photo: Arangal village in Malad was closed in view of the cyclonic storm Nisarga.
The BMC, Mumbai Police, Indian Coast Guard and NDRF teams were on their toes to respond to any untoward incident which could be caused by cyclone Nisarga. People living in kuccha houses and near the coastal areas were evacuated by the BMC and moved to a save place. A team of BMC conducted fever and SPO2 screening and also provided water and food to citizens who were shifted to temporary safety shelters in view of cyclone Nisarga.
According to initial information, at least 37 incidents of trees being uprooted were reported from places including Mumbai Central, South Mumbai, Kalachowki, Byculla, and Bandra among others. In a shocking incident, a few people were seen rushing to collect the palm fruit after the Sugar palm tree was uprooted at Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road.
BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal visited Worli Seaface and Versova Beach to supervise the work being carried out in view of cyclone Nisarga. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar took stock of the preparations with Chief Fire Officer Prabhat Rahangdale at Girgaum beach.
Of the 577 fishing boats from Palghar which had earlier gone out in the sea, nearly 564 came back ahead of the cyclone Nisarga making a landfall at Alibaug in neighbouring Raigad district. The cyclone made landfall at Alibaug at around 12.30 and ended by 3.30 to 4 pm. Heavy rains and winds hit Ratnagiri as cyclone Nisarga entered Maharashtra's coast.
Throughout the day, Mumbai Police personnel and lifeguards were seen patrolling the city's coastline to avoid people from venturing near the sea.
In photo: A huge tree uprooted due to the gusty winds of cyclone Nisarga at Nariman Point in South Mumbai.
About 43 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed in the Maharashtra and Gujarat to tackle cyclone Nisarga. Of which, 21 were deployed in Maharashtra and 16 in Gujarat. The NDRF teams evacuated nearly 1 lakh people from the cyclone spot. After the cyclone made landfall in Alibaug, the NDRF teams deployed in the district began the rehabilitation work.
In order to deal with the cyclonic storm Nisarga, the Mumbai Police had shared a list of precautions and and urged citizens to keep essential items such as torches, mobile phones and power banks charged, in case of a power outage. After the cyclone made landfall in Alibaug, about 95 km from Mumbai, the police suspended vehicular movement on iconic Bandra-Worli sea link.
Take-off and landings at Mumbai Airport was suspended for a few hours in wake of cyclone Nisarga after a cargo aircraft belonging to FedEx overshot the main runway on its arrival from Bengaluru. The aircraft was towed away from the runway, no disruption caused: PRO, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai. Later, the services were resumed at 6 pm.
Three members of a family were injured when the cement blocks fell on their shanty in a chawl from an adjacent under-construction building in suburban Santacruz here due to gusty winds brought by cyclonic storm Nisarga. Three shanties were damaged in the incident that occurred around 11:30 am in Dawari Nagar locality in Santacruz East.
In photo: Hundreds of residents living off the coast of Bandra Bandstand were evacuated in wake of the cyclonic storm Nisarga.
All carnivorous animals in Mumbai zoo were shifted to holding areas in their enclosures to keep them safe from rain and strong winds that caused havoc in the city due to cyclone Nisarga. Zoo emergency response teams took all necessary steps to protect the animals against the rough weather and avoid any damage due to tree falls.
In a shocking incident, a 58-year-old man was killed after a power transformer collapsed on him due to the heavy winds caused by cyclone Nisarga in Maharashtra's Raigad district. According to the police, the deceased was rushing home when the incident took place. The man died before doctors could attend to him, an official said.
After making landfall in Alibuag and brushing past Mumbai, cyclone Nisarga moved towards Pune. IMD scientist Shubhangi Bhute said that Cyclone Nisarga has crossed Raigad district. Now we are experiencing post-landfall effect with a wind speed of 90-100 kmph in Mumbai and Thane and moderate to heavy to very heavy rainfall.
After the cyclonic storm Nisarga lashed the coast of Maharashtra, NCP chief Sharad Pawar urged his party workers to help people at the time of the natural disaster. Several evacuation operations were undertaken across the state by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with the help of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), armed forces and the state police.
