 "In pics: Mumbai on high alert as Cyclone Nisarga makes a landfall")
Cyclone Nisarga is set to make landfall as 'severe cyclonic storm', close to Alibaug, in a few hours from now.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said cyclone Nisarga, which is 150 kms away from Mumbai, will affect the coastal districts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Gujarat and other neighbouring states.
In view of this, airlines have cancelled flights to Mumbai scheduled for today. Covid-special trains have also been rescheduled as the city braces for its first cyclone in over 100 years.
Besides, Section 144 (CrPC) has been also imposed in Mumbai till June 4. Police have asked citizens to refrain from venturing out to coast-beaches, promenade, parks and other similar places along the coastline.
Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister of Maharashtra said people living in flimsy homes near the shore were being evacuated to safer places before the cyclone makes its scheduled landfall on June 3. “Slum-dwellers... in low-lying areas have been instructed to evacuate,” he said in a message posted by his office on Twitter. In Maharashtra’s Palghar district alone, more than 21,000 villagers were being evacuated, local media reported, citing officials.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also spoken to the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Gujarat, the states likely to be impacted the most, and assured them all possible help from the Centre.
Indian meteorologists have warned of heavy rainfall - with winds of 100-110 kilometres (60-70 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 120 kph, causing damage to thatched huts, power lines and one to two metre-high (three to 6.5 feet) storm surges inundating low-lying areas of the state.