Rain In Mumbai, Schools Shut As Cyclone Okchi Nears: 10 Points

MUMBAI:  Mumbai woke up to more rain this morning as Cyclone Ockhi, which has claimed over 20 lives in southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, passes through the coast of Maharashtra before making landfall as a deep depression off the Gujarat coast early on Wednesday morning. Schools in Mumbai and neighbouring districts are closed today as a precautionary measure. Rescue and relief teams are on standby. The Railways has deployed extra personnel for crowd management. Fishermen have been asked not to venture out into the sea.

Here is your 10-point cheatsheet to the story:

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1. Cyclone Ockhi which held the "very severe" cyclone status has weakened into a "severe" cyclone and will make landfall near Surat and the Gulf of Khambat in Gujarat as a deep depression early on Wednesday, the Met Office has said.
 
2. Maharashtra will witness moderate rainfall at a few places over north Konkan including Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) 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.
 
3. The Maharashtra government has declared precautionary holiday for schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Sindhudurga, Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts.
 
4. The disaster management unit of Mumbai has also advised people against visiting beaches in view of high tide alert issued till tomorrow morning. The sea will be rough and fishermen have also been asked not to venture out. Coast Guard has deployed all its resources to meet any emergency requirement.
 
5. The Western Railway, in a statement on Monday, said it has taken necessary precautions and made suitable arrangements to monitor crowd movements and undertake necessary evacuation at stations in case of a disaster-like situation. Patrolling of the tracks has been intensified over various rail sections.
 
6. 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.
 
7. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held an urgent meeting with senior officials to take stock of the preparedness.
 
8. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who visited the cyclone-hit Kerala on Monday, said in a tweet 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.
 
9. 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 has battered parts of Kerala and Lakshadweep islands.
 
10. 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.

News and image source: NDTV.com