Tauktae: Gujarat faces worst cyclone in over 2 decades, Mumbai airport shut

As Cyclone Tauktae hurled towards Gujarat with wind speeds exceeding 185 km per hour, it left behind a trail of destruction in neighbouring Maharashtra, killing six people on Monday, while three sailors went missing after two boats sank in the Arabian sea.
 
In Gujarat, which is facing its worst cyclone in over two decades, over 150,000 people have been evacuated in the last few days. Two barges with 410 people onboard have, meanwhile, been adrift in the Arabian Sea.
 
"This can be compared with the 1998 cyclone that hit Kandla and inflicted heavy damage," Reuters quoted the state’s revenue secretary Pankaj Kumar as saying. The 1998 cyclone had killed at least 4,000 people and caused a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

According to reports, in all 12 people have been killed in Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka because of Cyclone Tauktae. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the tropical storm had intensified into a “very severe” cyclonic storm with packing wind speeds of about 20 kmph.
 
The cyclone made landfall bet­ween Porbandar and Mahuva, in Gu­j­arat’s Bhavnagar district, at 7.30 pm.
 
Earlier, MET had said Tauktae will hit Gujarat on Tuesday.
 
The cyclone comes in the middle of the devastating second wave of Covid-19, which has claimed thousands of lives in the country.
 
At least 17 Covid-19 patients on ventilator support in the Porbandar Civil Hospital’s intensive care unit were shifted to other facilities on Mo­nday as a precautionary measure.

 
The Centre has offered all help to Gujarat and asked the army, navy and the air force to remain on standby to assist the administration if the need arises, the Gujarat government said. The Indian Army said it has put 180 teams and nine engineer task forces on standby.
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are in touch with the state government, said Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
 
Modi also called up Rupani and enquired about the state government's preparedness to deal with the cyclone, the Chief Minister’s Office said. He also spoke with the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Goa and the lieutenant governor of Daman and Diu.

 
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as the cyclone hurtled northwards towards Gujarat.
 
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took stock of the situation in Mumbai, Thane and other coastal districts of the state. As Mumbai continued to be battered with heavy rains, over 12,000 citizens from coastal areas of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg were relocated to safer places.
 
Meanwhile, rainfall was also reported in Madhya Pradesh and an “or­ange” alert (advising all to be prepa­red) was issued in 13 districts of the state.
 
Mumbai airport shut, flights impacted

 
As the cyclone raged past the Ma­harashtra coast and inched closer to Mumbai in the morning, the Chh­atrapati Shivaji Maharaj Inter­national Airport ((CSMIA) suspended operations from 11 am to 10 pm.
 
Airports in Vadodara and Surat also suspended operations, leading to flights being cancelled or diverted.
 
A SpiceJet flight returned to Chennai after it was diverted twice from Mumbai due to adverse weather conditions. The Boeing 737 aircraft on a Chennai-Mumbai flight first diverted to Surat and then it diverted again due to low visibility and heavy rain. Weather bulletins also reported the presence of thunderstorm clouds at low altitude. Two IndiGo flights also diverted to Hyderabad and Lucknow, while an Air India aircraft bound for Mumbai was held back at Kolkata airport.

 
Later in the evening, IndiGo decided to cancel almost all its flights to/from Mumbai as gusty winds and rains continued to lash the city.
 
CSMIA registered cancellations of 34 arrivals and 22 departures.
 
Telecom firms set up war rooms
 
Telecom companies arranged critical equipment spares, diesel generator (DG) sets and set up war rooms to handle any network disruption.
 
"We have ensured sufficient fuel supply to our sites across all locations, and stocking at strategic locations, for use in times of emergency. Additionally, mobile DGs, critical equipment spares and vehicles have been arranged and kept ready at key locations," a Vi spokesperson said. Airtel said it has set up war rooms to monitor the network, 24x7, in impacted areas and made provisions for quick deployment of temporary sites (cell on wheels) in case of damage to existing sites.

Bombay High barge de-anchors
 
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said a barge, P305, with 261 of its personnel deployed for offshore drilling off Heera Oil Fields in Bombay High area in the Arabian Sea got de-anchored and started drifting because of the cyclone. However, all 261 onboard are accounted for and the barge has also been "steadied", an official spokesperson said.
 
"The barge was anchored at a safe distance but with the impact of the cyclone, it got de-anchored and drifted. It has been steadied and brought under control," the spokesperson added.
 
The spokesperson also said that the Indian Navy has pressed the warship INS Kochi and other assets into service to meet any eventuality. The oil fields are located aro­und 70 km southwest of Mumbai.

 
Bombay High off the Mumbai coast is ONGC’s largest oil and gas asset. ONGC carries on offshore drilling from platforms in the Arabian Sea. Typically, staff are taken for offshore drilling operations by air.
 
The Indian Coast Guard said it rescued 12 fishermen stranded around 35 nautical miles off the Kochi coast amid rough seas due to the cyclone on the night of May 16.

 
With agency inputs