Cyclone Nisarga, which weakened into a low-pressure area, is likely to enter Madhya Pradesh by Thursday evening from the southern parts of the state, instead of the western parts as predicted earlier, an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The severe cyclonic storm had hit the Maharashtra coast near Alibaug in Raigad district on Wednesday afternoon. IMD officials said that the cyclone has weakened into a cyclonic storm before entering Madhya Pradesh from neighbouring Maharashtra, and is likely to lose its intensity further.

As a result of the cyclone, parts of Madhya Pradesh received rainfall from Wednesday and the showers are likely to continue on Thursday as well, they said. The IMD in its latest bulletin predicted light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places very likely over east Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha and west Madhya Pradesh.

Talking to PTI, IMD's senior scientist Vedprakash Singh Chandel said, "Our earlier forecast was that Nisarga could enter Madhya Pradesh from Maharashtra between 7 am and 11 am on Thursday from Khandwa, Khargone and Burhanpur. But now this cyclone has lost its intensity and weakened into a low-pressure area."

"In the changing weather conditions, there is a possibility that Nisarga may enter Madhya Pradesh from its southern parts like Betul, Chhindwara and Seoni around 7 pm on Thursday," he said.

People along with their families who live close to coastal areas were evacuated to a safer place due to cyclone 'Nisarga' in Mumbai.

According to the forecast, the cyclone is likely to have an impact in the areas under Narmadapuram, Bhopal, Sagar, Rewa, Jabalpur and Shahdol divisions in the coming hours.

The meteorologist said that in the 24 hours that ended 8.30 am on Thursday, the places that recorded maximum rainfall include Segaon (136 mm), Khandwa (132 mm), Sendhwa (104 mm), Niwali (102 mm), Sonkatch (100 mm), Bhainsdehi (95.4 mm) and Amarpur (94 mm).

The state government has put the administration on alert and told the authorities to be prepared to deal with the situation. In some districts, including Indore, citizens were urged to remain indoors. Several parts of MP have been getting showers since Wednesday night, which has brought relief from the sweltering heat.

Barring parts of Gwalior and Chambal divisions, rainfall occurred in almost entire MP as an effect of cyclone Nisarga, said G D Mishra, senior meteorologist with IMDs Bhopal office. "Rains lashed 46 districts out of the total 52 districts in MP," he said.

Fishermen take precautions by anchoring their boats at Uttan beach ahead of the Cyclone Nisarga, in Thane. Photo: ANI

According to the forecast for western parts of the state, heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is most likely to occur at isolated places in the next 24 hours.

Similarly, heavy to very heavy rainfall, thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and gusty winds with speed reaching 30 to 40 kmph is very likely to occur at isolated places in eastern MP, it said.

While cloudy weather in Delhi, kept the heatwave in check, several parts of Bhopal and Mumbai received heavy rainfall owing to the cyclonic storm. Meanwhile, the monsoon is all set to arrive over North-East any June 10 as low-pressure develops off the Mayanmar coast activating the bay of Bengal.