Cyclone Tauktae: Barge with 273 personnel on board adrift near Mumbai

A barge with 273 personnel on board has gone adrift off the Mumbai coast as the severe cyclonic storm Tauktae over the Arabian Sea intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is expected to reach Gujarat coast Monday evening officials saidOn receipt of a request for assistance for Barge P305 adrift off Heera Oil Fields in Bombay High area with 273 personnel onboard warship INS Kochi was sailed with a despatch for Search and Rescue SAR assistance a Navy spokesperson saidThe oil fields are around 70 km southwest of Mumbai Several other ships have been readied for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief HADR tasking in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae that has wreaked havoc along the West coast of India he saidThe warship is expected to reach the barge around 4 pmAs the cyclone raged past the Maharashtra coast and inched closer to Mumbai Monday morning the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport announced the suspension of operations from 11 am to 4 pmAlso Read Cyclone Tauktae What you should do to prepare and remain safeA red alert has been sounded in the adjoining Raigad district and an orange alert has been declared in MumbaiThe monorail services in Mumbai have been suspended for the day Local trains services of the Central Railway were disrupted between suburban Ghatkopar and VikhroliGaleforce winds heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belts of Maharashtra and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards GujaratThe cyclonic storm will intensify further and reach the Gujarat coast by Monday evening the India Meteorological Department saidThe very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae over the eastcentral Arabian Sea moved north northwestwards with a speed of about 20 kmph during past six hours intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD saidIt is very likely to move northnorthwestwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening hours of 17th and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva Bhavnagar district during the night 20002300 hours IST of May 17 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed 155165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph it addedOver one lakh people have been shifted from lowlying coastal areas in Gujarat while 54 teams of the NDRF and SDRF remained deployed after IMDs warning that Tauktae will reach the state coast by Monday evening and cross it between 8 pm and 11 pm the IMD saidAt least 17 COVID19 patients on ventilator support in the Porbandar Civil Hospitals ICU were shifted to other facilities on Monday as a precautionary measure in view of cyclone Tauktae which is heading towards Gujarat coast an official saidMaharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday took stock of the situation in Mumbai Thane and other coastal districts of the state in the wake of the cyclonic stormAs Mumbai continued to be battered with heavy rains over 12000 citizens were relocated to safer places from the coastal areas These include 8380 people in Raigad 3896 in Ratnagiri and 144 in Sindhudurg districtsThe Indian Coast Guard said it rescued 12 fishermen stranded around 35 nautical miles off the Kochi coast amid rough seas due to the cyclone on the night of May 16On Monday Mumbaikars woke up witnessing gusty winds and heavy showers due to the cyclone Many Mumbaikars are enjoying the change in weather amid the coronavirus pandemicOne Twitter user posted the iconic scene of Ajay Devgns debut film Phool Aur Kaante where he stole hearts balancing in two bikes The social media user captioned it Mumbaikers trying to handle CycloneTauktae and Corona at the same timeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever