Cyclone Tauktae: 8 die; 3K houses damaged

At least eight people died, more than 3,000 houses were damaged, while electricity supply and internet connection to hundreds of villages were disrupted as cyclonic storm Tauktae wreaked havoc in parts of Maharashtra’s coastal districts such as Ratnagiri, Raigad, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Mumbai on Monday

At least eight people died, more than 3,000 houses were damaged, while electricity supply and internet connection to hundreds of villages were disrupted as cyclonic storm Tauktae wreaked havoc in parts of Maharashtra’s coastal districts such as Ratnagiri, Raigad, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Mumbai on Monday.

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More than 12,500 residents in coastal areas of three districts – Raigad (2,299), Ratnagiri (4,563), Sindhudurg (144) – were shifted to safer places, although they started to return as the cyclone started to recede on Monday evening. Among the six deaths caused due to various incidents related to the cyclone, four are from Raigad, two from Thane and two from Sindhudurg. Nine people from four districts have sustained injuries.

Transport to a few villages in Raigad and Ratnagiri was cut-off because of the blockades created by tree falls. Ratnagiri and Raigad districts were badly hit among the coastal districts, with its tehsils like Dapoli, Mandangad, Guhagar, Lanja seeing the most damages. About 1,028 houses and structures, including government offices and schools, received severe damages. Many orchards were damaged in Ratnagiri, known for its alphonso mangoes. A fisherman in Devgad in Sindhudurg lost his life trapped under the vessel anchor during his attempt to save fellow fishermen on a boat on Sunday evening. In another incident, three fishermen are missing from two boats that capsized in Devgad. Besides Devgad, tehsils like Vengurle, Malvan in Sindhudurg witnessed damage to their structures.

Hundreds of electricity poles and transformers were damaged owing to the velocity of the wind since Sunday evening, leading to power outage. It also led to disconnection of internet services. Hundreds of villages in Ratnagiri and a few in Raigad saw disruption of mobile and internet services. In Ratnagiri, 357,409 families from760 villages were in the dark till 3pm on Monday. “More than 15 transformers and over 190 electricity poles were damaged across the district. Power supply companies restored the electricity on a war footing in most of the villages, although some villages are still in the dark,” said Datta Bhadakwad, resident deputy collector, Ratnagiri.

In Raigad, of the 55 Covid care centres in rural parts, 26 operated on direct supply and 29 on generator back-up after the power outage on Monday morning. In Panvel Municipal Corporation, 44 of the 45 Covid facilities were given direct supply, while one was operational on generator back-up. A total of 1,784 houses were damaged in the district.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said the situation was expected to normalise by late Monday evening. “The CM spoke to senior officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and he was apprised about the weather conditions in coastal parts of the state. According to the information given to him, the cyclone was 180km away from Mumbai coast at 5pm and the wind velocity was on the decline, and expected to reach at 70-80 km per hour in few hours. By Monday night, the situation is expected to normalise in Maharashtra,” statement issued by the CMO stated.

Higher and technical education minister and guardian minister of Sindhudurg Uday Samant said he has demanded a special package, keeping the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) norms aside. “I have spoken to Thackeray and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. The state had given special package for losses sustained in Cyclone Nisarg last year. Mango growers have sustained huge losses in the middle of alphonso season,” he said.

The administrations of these districts have been directed to begin spot assessment of the losses. The officials from the relief and rehabilitation department said the exact quantum of the damage will be known only once the assessments are completed over next three-four days.

By contrast, Nisarga, which made landfall last June near Diveagar and Shrivardhan — south of the coastal resort town of Alibag — in Raigad district was a severe cyclonic storm which left at least six dead, 16 injured and nearly 13000 hectares of cropland damaged in northern parts of the state as well as its coastal districts. It also left behind a trail of destruction in Raigad district with power cables snapped, trees and electric poles uprooted, thatched, kutcha and pucca houses destroyed or partially damaged and roads blocked prompting the state to announce a relief package of nearly ₹400 crore to the district alone.

Raigad’s guardian minister and minister of state Aditi Tatkare said total restoration of electricity and internet services will take a couple of more days. “All roads connecting to villages have been cleared, but the restoration of electricity may take some time,” she said.

According to the statement issued by the energy department, 1,816,744 consumers were affected with disconnection of power supply in seven districts, of which 51% were restored. A total of 210 Covid-19 facilities or vaccination centres were affected, of which power supply has been restored in 82% or 173 units. The power supply of all four oxygen generating plants, which were affected, has been restored. A total of 765 of the 1,124 telecommunication towers affected in cyclone have been restored.