Gujarat braces up for cyclone Nisarga; 78,000 being evacuated

As cyclone Nisarga approaches south Gujarat's coastal town, the state government on Tuesday said that it has started evacuating over 78,000 persons living in kutcha houses in Surat, Valsad, Navsari and Bharuch districts. By Tuesday evening, over 20,000 persons have already been evacuated. Officials said that evacuees will be accommodated in 140 shelter homes created for them.

While the state government said that 13 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and seven from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed and five more teams will be airlifted, the weather department has predicted that the cyclone may not make a landfall on Gujarat coast. However, gutsy winds coupled with heavy rains will have an impact on the coastal towns.

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In a release India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that deep depression over east-central Arabian Sea was about 670 km away from Surat which is likely to turn into a cyclonic storm. The storm may hit the south Gujarat coast by tomorrow. The release stated that by tomorrow, it will turn into a severe cyclonic storm and cross north Maharashtra and adjoining south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, close to Alibaug of Maharashtra during the afternoon of June 3, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph.

Director, MeT, Jayanta Sarkar told reporters, "Our prediction says that the cyclone may make a landfall near Alibaug that is located between north Maharashtra and south Gujarat. Although the cyclone will not cross south Gujarat, it will leave its impact due to strong winds and heavy rains in the coastal areas."