The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a cyclone alert for south Gujarat, implying a wet Wednesday for Mumbai. The
Not that Mumbai minded the light showers across the city on Tuesday; they brought the temperatures down by a few notches. The temperatures dropped in the city to a minimum of 27 degrees Celsius in Colaba and 26 degrees Celsius in Santa Cruz. The relative humidity also came down to 87 and 77 per cent in these areas, respectively, giving some relief to the city.
Officials said the rainfall was due to a depression over south-east and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea moving towards the north-west. It intensified into a deep depression and lay centred on Tuesday morning, about 470 km west of Mangalore and southwest of Goa and 700 km south-southwest of Mumbai.
Weather scientists who are tracking the deep depression said it is moving north-west towards south Gujarat. "The system is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and move in a northerly direction for some more time and then north-northeastward to cross South Gujarat and the North Konkan coast,'' said deputy director-general of meteorology, Mumbai, R V Sharma said:
Due to the deep depression, coastal parts of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra are expected to experience winds with speed of up to 85 kmph over the next two days. "It is expected to cross south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by early hours of November 12,'' an alert issued by IMD said.
Sharma added: "Under its influence, heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Konkan, Goa and Maharashtra is expected over the next few hours,'' he added.
"We usually see a post-monsoon cyclone season in November. Many years ago, a similar situation had occurred on the eighth of the month. The condition of the sea during the next 48 hours is likely to be very rough. Heavy and gusty winds are expected along the shore.''
The met department has, therefore, sent out warnings to fishermen and citizens to not venture near the sea or along the coast.
The department is also in communication with the state officials and the BMC. "We are just observing the situation as of now. It may or may not get worse,'' said Sharma. A similar warning has been issued to the fishermen in Gujarat.
The sea will be rough over Lakshadweep area, along the coast of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. There will be heavy rains over Konkan, Goa, central Maharashtra, coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep over the next two days.
