The “extremely severe” Cyclone Tauktae made landfall on Monday night, with the outermost wall of the cyclone passing over Saurashtra in Gujarat. The process will continue for the next several hours, officials said.
Deadly winds are blowing at 80 to 130 km/hr speed in the Veraval, Somnath, Una, Kodinar areas of Saurashtra. Trees, electric polls and solar panels have reportedly been uprooted in Una and Gir Gadhda. A red alert has been declared in Gujarat. Along with this, the most dangerous signal 10 has been installed at Veraval and Jafrabad ports.
Cyclone Tauktae has so far killed at least 16 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, authorities said, as per Reuters. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had categorised the storm, which formed in the Arabian Sea, as an “extremely severe” storm, upgrading it from “very severe”.
A report from Mumbai said that in the backdrop of Cyclone Tauktae, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reviewed the situation in the coastal districts with the Chief Secretary as well as the Relief and Rehabilitation Secretary. A total of 12,420 people from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Raigad districts have been evacuated to safer places, the Disaster Management Department has said.
The CM sought information from the control room as well as the Municipal Commissioner about the situation in Mumbai, Thane and surrounding areas and also instructed to ensure in particular that there is no hindrance in the treatment of Covid patients. He also reviewed the situation in a meeting with the State Disaster Management Authority this afternoon.
In Gujarat, meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that the full cyclone will begin at 11.30 pm on Monday, and wind speeds of 150 km/hr can be expected. The whole process may last four hours. Rupani said all measures have been taken to deal with the situation. “These are special circumstances. The administration is busy with the Covid-19 challenges, and is now gearing up to deal with the impact of the cyclone,” said Rupani.
Four districts—Gir Somnath, Amreli, Junagadh and Bhavnagar—will be more affected. The landfall process has begun. The cyclone has knocked down trees and turned off lights. Its effect will also be seen in Jamnagar, Rajkot, Porbandar, Anand, Bharuch and Dholera.
“This will be the most severe cyclone to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage,” Additional Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar told Reuters. It may be recalled that on 9 June 1998, a similar cyclone hit Kandla in Kutch district, in which 1,173 people died and 1,774 were missing.
As a result of Cyclone Tauktae, it is raining heavily in Navsari district. As a precautionary measure, power supply has been cut off in 16 villages of the sea shore division. Due to strong winds in Una of Gir Somnath, power supply has been disrupted as about 200 trees have been uprooted.
NDRF teams have been deployed in 20 potentially affected districts for relief and rescue operations in the state in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae. According to information received by the State Emergency Operations Centre, NDRF teams have been deployed in 20 districts of the state—two in Valsad district, one in Navsari, two in Surat, two in Bharuch, two in Anand, one in Kheda, two in Ahmedabad, one in Botad, four in Bhavnagar, four in Amreli, four in Gir Somnath, three in Junagadh, three in Porbandar, two in Dwarka, two in Jamnagar and two in Rajkot, two in Morbi, two in Surendranagar, one in Kutch, and one in Gandhinagar. As many as 44 teams of NDRF have been deployed for rescue operations across the state, while six teams of SDRF have also been kept on stand-by.
More than 1 lakh people from five districts and a total of 2 lakh people from the state have been evacuated. As many as 19,000 fishermen and all boats have returned. As many as 11,000 Agariyas have been relocated. The Central government is also helping. Each district has a minister in charge, a secretary and an ADGP in the most affected district. Additional Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said there was connectivity with satellite phones inside the control room. People have been told not to leave their homes for two days.
Meanwhile, a report from Mumbai said 3,896 people from Ratnagiri district, 144 people from Sindhudurg district and 8,380 people from Raigad district have been evacuated to safer places. As many as 12,420 citizens from coastal districts have been evacuated. Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts have been given orange alert, while Raigad district has been given red alert. The district and state administration concerned has made all preparations for rescue and relief work of the citizens.
Cyclone Tauktae has created a havoc in areas of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg with heavy rainfall and gusty winds. One person died after being hit by storm in Raigad, two were wounded and 839 houses have been razed, and 8,338 people have been transported to safe places.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS