As cyclone Ockhi approaches, over 3,200 people evacuated from Surat

Mangalore Today News Network

Gujrat, Dec 06, 2017 : Over 3,200 people were evacuated from 29 coastal villages in Surat district as cyclone Ockhi headed towards south Gujarat on Tuesday. According to the Met department, the cyclone is expected to make landfall in Surat district on Tuesday midnight.

 

The latest IMD forecast (5.30 pm, Tuesday) stated that the cyclone, which was now turned into a deep depression, lay centred in east central Arabian Sea, 240 km from Surat, causing high speed winds and rain across Gujarat and adjoining Maharashtra. It said that the depression was moving at a speed of 18 kmph for the last six hours.

With the Met department warning that wind gust measuring up to 70 kmph will hit south Gujarat during landfall, the district administration requested people to not venture out. Dharmapuri in south Gujarat received a maximum rainfall of 25 mm on Tuesday. The other districts experiencing a wet spell are Botad, Aravalli, Chhota Udepur, Dahod, Mahisagar, Sabarkantha, Navsari and Rajkot. The wet spell is likely to continue for the next couple of days.

Pankaj Kumar, Principal Secretary of Gujarat Revenue Department, said the administration has deployed two NDRF teams in Surat and one each in Navsari, Valsad, Bhavnagar and Amreli. “A deep depression is building, but the good news is that the intensity of the cyclone is reducing as it heads towards Surat. We are expecting moderate to heavy rainfall in various parts of Gujarat. The government has formed a crisis management group to deal with such situation.

courtesy:IE