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Cyclone Nisarga: NDRF undertakes sessions at relief centres
The Maharashtra administration has evacuated over 100,000 people from the coastline since Tuesday in preparation for the cyclone which made landfall at 11.30 am just south of Alibag in Raigad district
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which has deployed 20 teams across Maharashtra took sessions on how to protect lives and what to do during a cyclone. The sessions were conducted at the relief centres where villagers living near the coast have been brought in.
The Maharashtra administration has evacuated over 100,000 people from the coastline since Tuesday in preparation for the cyclone which made landfall at 11.30 am just south of Alibag in Raigad district. Heavy rains have been lashing the coastline since morning, particularly at Murud and Revdanda, where the NDRF camps witnessed the landfall.
Eight teams of the NDRF are stationed in Mumbai, four in Raigad, two each in Palghar, Thane and Ratnagiri districts, while one team is on standby in Navi Mumbai. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in these districts too.
Also read: Cyclone Nisarga landfall begins, will take 3 hours to complete
A senior officer said that villagers have been instructed on basic Dos and Don’ts that are to be followed during the cyclone. Citizens have been asked not to venture near old buildings, temporary sheds or poles as well as power lines. “Wherever possible, we are undertaking sessions on how people need to take care of themselves before the cyclone hits. We are also adhering to social distancing norms,” he said.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the state machinery has been geared up for the Cyclone Nisarga. “Adequate force of NDRF, police, lifeguards, fire brigade have been deployed. Keeping the intensity of the cyclone in mind, citizens in the coastal parts of the state are requested to stay home,” Pawar said.
The name, ‘Nisarga’ proposed by Bangladesh, means ‘nature’. It comes soon after cyclone Amphan that devastated the lives of over a million people and left 86 dead when it made landfall on May 20 at the Sunderbans, in West Bengal.
The last severe cyclonic storm to hit close to Mumbai was in 1961. But climate scientists warned that devastation can be extensive as today’s Mumbai is very different from the Bombay of 1960s and has lost most of its floodplains and rivulets and is now counted as among the densest cities in the world. When heavy rains lash over a city like Mumbai, which has lost its flood plains and defences, the flooding gets prolonged, scientists said
A senior officer said that villagers have been instructed on basic Dos and Don’ts that are to be followed during the cyclone. Citizens have been asked to not venture near old buildings, temporary sheds or poles as well as power lines. “Wherever possible, we are undertaking sessions on how people need to take care of themselves before the cyclone hits. We are also adhering to social distancing norms,” he said.
