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Gujarat prepares for severe cyclone

Evacuation in the port town of Kandla in Gujarat began Tuesday in view of a massive cyclone shaping up in the Arabian Sea, which is likely to hit the coastal areas by Wednesday afternoon.

Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel called an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday evening to take stock of the situation. In view of the killer cyclone that claimed nearly 1300 lives and caused destruction to property worth billions of rupees last year, the government is gearing up to provide adequate safety to everyone.

The cyclone, at 0830 hours Tuesday was at latitude 17.0 degree north and longitude 68.0 degree east, about 500 km from Veraval. Its intensity was likely to increase as it may take a northernly route, followed by a north-east curve, before crossing the coast between Jakhau and Mahuwa sometime Wednesday afternoon.

All operations at the ports in Kutch district have been stopped and danger signal number 10 hoisted.

District officials said that the cyclone was likely to hit Jakhau with a wind velocity of 100 to 120 km per hour.

Meanwhile, rain or thundershowers are expected at many places in Lakshadweep, at a few places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Konkan, Goa, coastal and south interior Karnataka and Kerala, and at isolated places in Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, West Bengal, Sikkim, coastal Orissa, Bihar, east Madhya Pradesh, south central Maharashtra, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and north interior Karnataka.

Mainly dry weather will prevail over the rest of the country.

Rain or thundershowers occurred at a few places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Vidarbha, coastal and south interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep and at isolated places in Gangetic West Bengal, Orissa, central Maharashtra, Rayalseema, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Mainly dry weather prevailed over the rest of the country.

Heat wave conditions prevailed in some parts of northwest Rajasthan.

Day temperatures were appreciably above normal in parts of Assam, Meghalaya and Kashmir.

They were above normal in east Rajasthan and in parts of Orissa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, west Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra.

They were appreciably below normal in Bihar, east Uttar Pradesh and in parts of interior Orissa, central Maharashtra, south coastal Andhra Pradesh and south interior Karnataka. They were below normal in Tamil Nadu and the remaining parts of Haryana.

They were normal over the rest of the country outside Arunachal Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal and the plains of west Uttar Pradesh from where the data were sparse.

UNI

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