Cyclone Tauktae: Strong winds at 114 kmph strike Mumbai, say civic officials

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Winds blew at 114 kmph in Mumbai on Monday afternoon as the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae was passing close to the Mumbai coast barrelling towards Gujarat, civic officials said.

However, as per the Mumbai IMD, the highest wind speed of 108 km per hour was recorded at the Colaba observatory in the afternoon, said Shubhangi Bhute, senior director, IMD Mumbai.

Earlier in the day, the civic body said the wind speed of 114 kmph, the highest during the day, was recorded around 2 pm at its automatic weather station located at Afghan Church in south Mumbai's Colaba area.

At the same time, the Colaba observatory witnessed the wind speed of 108 kmph, the civic body had said.

Also read: Cyclone Tauktae: Six die in Konkan region of Maharashtra

Bhute said Colaba and Santacruz observatories recorded 184 mm and 186 mm rainfall, respectively, between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm.

Earlier on Monday, the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre said its Colaba observatory recorded a wind speed of 102 kmph around 11 am.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up 60 automatic weather stations across Mumbai for day-to-day monitoring of the climatic conditions in the metropolis.

The Bandra-Worli sea-link was closed for traffic in view of the strong winds and people were asked to take alternate routes, a BMC official said.

Due to the strong winds, some plastic sheets covering the roof of a common passenger area at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai were blown away in the morning, a railway official said.

The area was cordoned off and the railway staff immediately attended to it, he said