Cyclone Nisarga to land near Alibaug with wind speed of 120 kmph: Here are 10 latest developments

Cyclone Nisarga is expected to make landfall near Mumbai this afternoon. This is the second cyclone to hit India in the last two weeks. Mumbai, the financial capital, will have to face its first cyclone in over 100 years. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have been put on high alert as these areas fall on the path of Nisarga.

Here are the 10 latest developments related to Cyclone Nisarga:

1. Cyclone Nisarga will make landfall near Ailbaug which is about 100 km away from Mumbai. The cyclone will hit the shore with the wind speed of 110 kmph, which can go up to 120 kmph, and will bring with it heavy rainfall, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).
2. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, IMD, in his daily briefing said, "The storm will cross Maharashtra coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, very close to Alibaug between 1 and 4 pm, It is 130 km south-southwest of Alibaug, 170 km south-southwest of Mumbai and 415 km south-southwest of Surat at 0730 hours IST of 03.06.2020," the weather office said in its morning bulletin.
3. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has appealed to the people to stay indoors and has said that more than 19,000 people have been moved to safer locations. "The cyclone could be more severe than the ones the state has faced till now," Mr Thackeray said. He has ordered all non-COVID-19 hospitals to prepare themselves in order to deal with medical emergencies in the coming days.
4. The storm is being tracked by the Doppler Weather Radars in Goa and Mumbai. The centre of the storm was visible in the radar this morning. The weather office tweeted, "Eye diameter is about 65 km as observed through radar. thus the diameter has decrease during past 01 hour indicating intensification of system. Hence, wind speed has increased from 85-95 kmph to 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph (sic),"
5. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned all airlines about the dangers of running operations during the cyclonic conditions. Both air and rail traffic has been disrupted because of Nisarga.
6. In a late-night order, the administration had banned people from venturing out to public places like parks and beaches along the Mumbai coastline.
7. The storm will surge as high as two meters above the normal sea tide and is expected to inundate low-lying coastal areas of Mumbai, Thane and Raigad, according to the weather department.
8. The government has deployed 30 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to deal with the damage that would be caused by Nisarga along the coast of Maharashtra and Gujarat. One such team consists of 45 personnel.
9. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had tweeted, "Took stock of the situation in the wake of cyclone conditions in parts of India's western coast. Praying for everyone's well-being. I urge people to take all possible precautions and safety measures (sic)".
10. The Indian Coast Guard has sent its ships and planes to warm all fisherman and merchant ships in the area to return to their harbours.

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