Two men carrying umbrellas walk on the Marine Drive under heavy rain in Mumbai on June 3, 2020, as cyclone Nisarga barrels towards India's western coast. - Mumbai authorities shut offices, banned small gatherings and told people to stay home on June 3 as the Indian megacity's first cyclone in more than 70 years approached. Cyclone Nisarga was expected to make landfall near the coastal town of Alibag, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Mumbai, on June 3 afternoon, forecasters said. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP)

Cyclone ‘Nisarga’ spares Mumbai

June 3, 2020 National News

PTI

Mumbai

Cyclone Nisarga made landfall near Mumbai on Wednesday but spared the city already reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic, even as it uprooted trees in nearby Raigad and Palghar districts.

A 58-year-old man died after a power transformer fell on him while he was rushing home to escape the cyclone fury at Umate village in Raigad district, police said.

Two people died and three were injured in two separate cyclone-related incidents in Pune district, an official said.

The cyclone slammed Maharashtra coast with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph, making landfall at 12.30 pm at Alibaug in Raigad district near Mumbai. The process was completed by 2.30 pm, a senior IMD official said.

Cyclone Nisarga is expected to weaken into a deep depression within the next six hours and currently it lays centered over Pune in Maharashtra, the official said.

Mumbaikars and people in neighbouring areas, including those in coastal Gujarat districts had braced for the cyclone but heaved a sigh of relief as Nisarga’s damage appeared limited to uprooting of trees in affected areas.

Ahead of Nisarga’s landfall, thousands of people in its path were evacuated, trains rescheduled, flights cancelled, fishermen ordered out of the seas and rescue workers were put on standby.

Already down on its knees from the raging COVID-19 pandemic, this was the first major cyclone Mumbai would have faced in 72 years, according to Adam Sobel, a professor of atmospheric science at Columbia University in New York.

Nisarga blew in from the Arabian Sea, making landfall at the coastal town Alibaug.

Steeped in colonial history, Alibaug is a quaint little town located about 110 km from Mumbai, and is dotted with sandy beaches, several forts and temples. A speedboat from Mumbai to Mandwa jetty near Alibaug takes 20 minutes.

Nisarga came a week after Cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in West Bengal.