Cyclone Ockhi which held the "very severe" cyclone status has weakened into a "severe" cyclone and is expected to weaken even further during the next 12 hours, the Met office has said.
Maharashtra will witness moderate rainfall at a few places over north Konkan including Mumbai, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. The forecast included moderate-to-heavy rainfall at a few places "along with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph" along the coastal areas.
The Maharashtra government has declared precautionary holiday for schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Sindhudurga, Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts in view of students' safety.
The Disaster management unit of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has also advised people against visiting beaches in view of high tide alert issued for tonight and tomorrow morning. The sea will be rough and fishermen have been asked not to venture out. Coast Guard has deployed all its resources to meet any emergency requirement.
The Western Railway (WR) Monday today said it has taken necessary precautions and made suitable arrangements in view of the warning about cyclone Ockhi. The RPF and commercial control staff has been asked to monitor crowd movements and undertake necessary evacuation at stations in case of a disaster-like situation, a statement by Western Railway said. Patrolling of the tracks has been intensified over various rail sections.
According to the IMD, Gujarat is very likely to experience a wet spell during the next four days. "Heavy rainfall might occur in Valsad, Surat, Navsari, Bharuch, Dang, Tapi, Amreli, Gir-Sonath and Bhavnagar districts on December 5," it said.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held an urgent meeting with senior officials to take stock of the preparedness.During the meeting, he was apprised that as many as 50 boats from Kerala had drifted towards Gujarat's Veraval coast due to the cyclone, it said.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who visited the cyclone-hit Kerala on Monday, said in a tweet on Monday that nearly 390 fishermen from the state had been rescued. Around 100 fishermen are still missing. Naval ships, helicopters, Coast Guard vessels and Air Force planes are engaged in the rescue and relief operations. The Coast Guard says all their ships will be on duty till the crisis is over
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has donated Rs. 2 crore from the Chief Minister's relief fund to the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to provide relief to the victims of Cyclone Ockhi, which in Bengali means 'eye', has battered parts of Kerala and Lakshadweep islands.
Meanwhile, a well-marked low pressure area over southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to become a depression and move towards Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh by December 6, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said on Monday.
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