Nisarga leaves trail of destruction, 6 dead

The Nisarga cyclone has left a massive trail of destruction and claimed six lives in Maharashtra.

The worst-affected district was Raigad, where thousands of trees were uprooted and houses were damaged.

The power and telecommunication services are yet to be restored as cables got snapped and poles uprooted in nature's fury.

On Wednesday, Nisarga had made its landfall off Alibaug coast in Raigad district in coastal Konkan belt and then swept through the Pune district's city areas and rural landscape in Western Maharashtra.

As on Thursday morning, the cyclone system is over Nashik and North Maharashtra region and then moved towards Marathwada and Vidarbha. In Mumbai, there were heavy rains on Thursday for two hours during which low-lying areas like King's Circle, Dadar, Matunga, Sion, Kurla, and Chembur was water-logged briefly.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who took a review meeting, asked power and telecommunications systems to be restored on war-footing and organise food for those whose houses were damaged.

Meanwhile, Relief and Rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar informed that around 13-14 districts – or more than one-third of Maharashtra’s 36 districts – have been affected by Nisarga and he would go on a tour from Saturday for a spot assessment of the damages.

State energy minister Dr Nitin Raut is in Raigad for an on-spot assessment.