Heavy rainfall was reported in many parts of Maharashtra on Monday as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled towards Gujarat. The storm, which has been classified as a "very severe cyclonic storm”, is expected to make landfall at the Gujarat coast between 8 pm to 9 pm on Monday.
While the storm caused massive damage in Karnataka on Saturday, it threw normal life out of gear in Maharashtra on Monday.
While two persons died in Maharashtra's Konkan region, one person died in Raigad on Monday in separate rain-related incidents.
As of 11 am on Monday, 1,104 structures in Raigad were partially damaged, while one got destroyed completely due to the storm. Further, a substantial number of trees fell in the Konkan region due to the storm, officials said.
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On Monday, suburban train services were partially shut in Mumbai along with the Mumbai international airport.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat government has evacuated 1.5 lakh people living in the coastal areas of the state.
A total of 44 teams of the National Disaster Response Force along with personnel of the police and local officials have been deployed along the Gujarat coast in various districts.
As per the latest update given by the IMD, cyclone Tauktae, is likely to cross the Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva, around 20 km east of the Union territory of Diu between 8 pm and 11 pm on Monday with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and took stock of the preparations made the state government.
The prime minister assured the state government of all possible help to deal with the situation.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening called up Chief Minister Vijay Rupani over the phone and sought details of preparation by the state government to deal with cyclone Tauktae," the Chief Minister's Office said in a release.
The chief minister apprised the PM about the precautionary steps being taken by the state government to tackle the situation, it said.
Storm Wreaks Havoc In Karnataka
Six people have lost their lives so far in the cyclone-hit coastal and surrounding Malnad districts of Karnataka, officials said on Monday.
According to a situation report by Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority officials, till this morning, 121 villages and 22 taluks have been affected by the cyclone so far.
A total of 547 people have been evacuated till now, it said, 290 people are currently taking shelter in the 13 relief camps that have been opened.
Damages to a total of 333 houses, 644 poles, 147 transformers, 3,004.3 meters of lines, 57 km of road, 57 nets and 104 boats have been reported so far, it said adding that, agriculture crop loss has been estimated in about 30 ha till now and horticulture crop loss is about 2.87 ha.
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The Met department has forecasted thunderstorms accompanied by lightning with light to moderate spells of rain and gusty winds speed reaching 30-40 kmph is likely to affect Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, Belagavi, Haveri, Dharwad, Chamarajanagara, Mysuru, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts.
Around 1,000 trained personnel from fire force, police, coastal police, home guards, SDRF have been deployed in the three coastal and neighboring districts for rescue and relief operations, and NDRF teams have also been roped in.
(With PTI inputs)
