Mumbai, Nov 11 (IANS) Cyclone Phyan lost its severity as it crossed India’s west coast just north of this metropolis Wednesday evening, but brought with it heavy rain over the area and rode on strong winds gusting up to 85 km per hour, officials said.
Phyan was expected to hit north Maharashtra or south Gujarat Thursday morning. According to the IMD, the cyclone crossed the Maharashtra coast between Alibaug and Mumbai around 5 p.m.
It was centred as a deep depression over north Konkan, around 100 km southwest of Mumbai, by 5.30 p.m.
Over the next 12 hours – by Thursday morning – it is expected to move further north, northeast and weaken further into a deep depression, the IMD said.
Under its influence, there will be heavy to very heavy rains over Konkan, central Maharashtra, Marathwada region of the state, south Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh over the next 24 hours.
Coastal north Maharashtra and south Gujarat will also continue to experience squalls reaching upto 70 kmph with very rough sea conditions over the next 12 hours.
A state of high-preparedness will, however, continue for the city and state administration Thursday as well, officials said.
Before Phyan weakened, people scurried home in pelting rain as schools, colleges and offices shut here in the early afternoon.
Maharashtra Chief Secretary Johny Joseph said: ‘All disaster control agencies like the district administration, police, civic and traffic authorities, fire brigade, Home Guards, Coast Guard, and the Indian Navy have been put on high alert to tackle any eventuality arising out of the weather conditions.’
Authorities had also advised citizens to keep away from popular coastal haunts like Churchgate, Nariman Point, Colaba, Worli, Bandra, Juhu, Versova, Marve, Bhayander and Vasai.
Non-stop rain and heavy cloud cover led to a number of flight delays in and out of Mumbai. According to an official of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, incoming flights were delayed by an hour and departures were around 15 minutes behind schedule.
Though there were traffic jams on the main roads in the city, suburban train services were operating normally. Central Railway and Western Railway ran special services to clear the rush of passengers, especially those bound for far-flung suburbs.
Fishermen in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, besides the Lakshadweep Islands, have been advised not to go out to sea. But about 50 fishing boats remained missing at sea, with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard planes and ships searching for them.
Civic authorities kept pumps in readiness at several coastal areas of Mumbai like Worli, Bandra, Juhu, Versova and Malad.
The union home ministry put its disaster management teams on alert in Maharashtra and Gujarat to meet any eventuality.
‘The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Maharashtra and Gujarat have been put on the alert,’ the ministry said in a statement.
Simultaneously, to meet any emergency requirement of rescue and relief, the NDRF teams comprising about 400 trained personnel with boats and other equipments, have been pre-positioned in Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, it said.
Another 200 personnel have been kept in readiness for Mumbai and the defence ministry has also alerted the Indian Air Force, it added.
