Reeling Under Heat Wave, Gujarat Braces For Cyclone Vayu

The monsoon was anyway expected to be delayed by a week due to its late arrival in Kerala, an official told PTI.

Flight operations partially suspended at Mumbai airport

Flight operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj international airport airport were put on hold on Monday night after heavy rains brought down visibility below the required limit, a Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson said.

Due to this, a Newark-bound United Airlines flight from the airport was diverted to Delhi, the spokesperson said.

Rains hit Mumbai

Mumbai and suburbs received pre-monsoon showers on Monday night. It was the first pre-monsoon showers in the south Mumbai region, said an IMD official.

Areas like Colaba in south Mumbai, western suburbs of Santacruz, Malad, Kandivali and Borivali along with Kurla, Ghatkopar and Vikroli received good spells of showers, accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Movement of Mumbai’s life line, suburban trains, was affected near Kopar station due to some technical issues triggered by rain.

Severe cyclonic storm likely to hit Gujarat on Wednesday night: IMD

The state has been put on alert following the IMD prediction. 

With the warning of a heavy rainfall in parts of Gujarat, the state government has decided to deploy NDRF personnel in coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch from Tuesday morning.

The government will also put the Army, the Navy and the Coast Guard on alert.

The IMD has issued a warning of heavy rains with winds blowing at the speed of over 110 kms on June 13 and 14 in coastal areas of Saurashtra and Kutch.

It has also advised fishermen against venturing into the sea in the next few days while ports have been directed to flag a danger signal.

After the weather warning, the government convened a high-level meeting in which it decided to deploy 15 teams of the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) immediately.

“We have alerted all district collectors of coastal Gujarat to take immediate steps keeping in mind the likelihood of a cyclone,” Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, Pankaj Kumar told reporters.

“It (Cyclone) is very likely to cause an adverse impact in terms of wind and rainfall over Saurashtra and Kutch, mainly on June 13 and 14,” a statement by the MeT department said. 

“It is very likely to cause an adverse impact in terms of wind and rainfall over Saurashtra and Kutch, mainly on June 13 and 14,” the release said.

Gujarat is at present reeling under severe heat wave as the maximum temperatures in major cities, including Ahmedabad, hovering over 43 degrees Celsius since the last week of May.

Sarkar said the severe cyclonic storm is likely to cause heavy rains and winds in the coastal districts of Saurashtra, like Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, Jamangar, Porbandar, Dwarka and also Kutch.

Severe weather warning for Goa

A severe weather rainfall warning has been issued for Goa for 24 hours with the possibility of gusty winds due to the cyclone which is running parallel to its coast.

For Goa region, the squally wind with speed of 50 -60 kms per hour are likely to move over for the next 12 hours.

“South Goa is going to be affected first and then North Goa. The cyclone is parallel to the Goa coast,” he said, adding that it is not going to strike the coastal state.