Swell surge alert for Mumbai

INCOIS warns Mumbaikars to avoid sea shore for 36 hours due to high energy swell waves, reaching up to 1.5 meters. Fisheries cautioned as well.

Mumbai: The Indian National Center for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS) has warned Mumbaikars to stay away from the sea shore for around 36 hours as high energy swell waves are likely to hit the coast between 11:30am on Saturday will 11:30pm on Sunday.

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The warning was issued as the height of swell waves – formed due to distant winds – could go up to 1.5 metres, said Sunil Kamble, head of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai. “This is not an unusual occurrence,” he said.

According to the INCOIS forecast, during phases of high tide within the 36-hour stretch, the “sea will be dominated by high energy swell waves in the near shore region and the low-lying areas may experience surges (gushing of sea water into nearshore/beach areas) intermittently”.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has further cautioned fishermen to keep their boats at a distance from each other, so they don’t collide during the swell surges. Tourists and citizens have been requested not to go out into the sea and cooperate with officials.

The INCOIS alert was part of a forecast for swell surges in Kerala, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Andaman, Nicobar, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.

These surges started in the southern Atlantic Ocean on April 26, at a distance of around 10,000 km from Indian coast, and slowly moved towards the southern Indian Ocean around April 28, INCOIS said in a press statement. “This caused high energy swell propagation towards the Indian coastal regions, which are expected to hit the southern tip of India in the early hours (02:30 AM) of May 4. The low-lying coastal areas are particularly vulnerable,” the statement noted.