MUMBAI: The intermittent showers brought in by cyclone Ockhi continued to lash Mumbai causing inconvenience to lakhs of people who gathered in the city on Tuesday to pay respects to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar on the occasion of his death anniversary.
The Shivaji Park in Mumbai, where his followers generally assemble every year to mark his death anniversary, has been water-logged. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation has made arrangements to accommodate them in 70-odd municipal schools.
The life in Mumbai largely remained normal, as there was hardly any impact of the incessant rains on the suburban rail services. Several Mumbaikars preferred to remain indoors. However, traffic snarls were reported from several places across the city throughout the day.
The flight operations too were normal, according to a spokesperson of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
As the cyclone hovered along the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast, huge tidal waves lashed the shores of Mumbai. Coastal districts of Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg and North Maharashtra district of Nashik have been receiving rainfall since Monday.
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According to the Indian Meteorological Department, similar weather conditions are expected to continue at least for next 48 hours. Light to moderate rainfall at most places with isolated heavy rainfall is also likely in the districts of Palghar, Thane, Raigarh, Greater Mumbai, Dhule, Nandurbar, Nashik, Jalgaon, Ahmednagar and Pune.
In the last 24 hours, Mumbai and its suburban areas have received 60 to 75 mm rainfall – the highest such rainfall recorded in a day in any December in a decade’s time.
Disaster management system of the state government as well as the BMC and other civic bodies continue to be on the alert mode.
Several fishermen from adjoining states have taken shelter at several ports along the Konkan caost. They have been advised not to venture into the Arabian Sea in the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard has sought the help of merchant vessels to report position of stranded fishermen in Arabian Sea as Cyclone Ockhi battered the west coast.
Mumbai-based Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre raised an international lookout notice informing the merchant vessels to report position of stranded fishing boat/survivors in the affected sea area of the cyclone.
Since the last weekend, the ICG has rescued 367 people, official sources said.
The ICG (West) is maintaining extensive search and rescue efforts for the stranded fishermen by deploying 22 ships and five aircraft. Updates are being shared with the state governments and Fisheries Department.