Ahmedabad: In what comes as a big relief for the residents of Gujarat, Cyclone Niolfar will weaken till the time it reaches its coast, Additional Director of Ahmedabad Meteorological Centre Manorama Mohanty said on Thursday.
Cyclone Nilofar, which developed over the Arabian Sea, is likely to make landfall in Kutch district of Gujarat on Friday.
According to IMD, very severe cyclonic storm Nilofar has weakened into a severe cyclonic storm and is located about 620 km west-southwest of Naliya at 0830 hrs IST of today. It would weaken further into a depression over northeast Arabian Sea off north Gujarat coast by Friday evening. |
Giving details about the cyclone, Mohanty said that as Cyclone Nilofar will form a depression when it reaches north Gujarat coast the damage will be less.
Mohanty said that north Gujarat along with Saurashtra and Kutch regions will experience rainfall.
Cyclone Nilofar would have mild affect in Rajasthan's border districts of Barmer, Jalore and Jodhpur on its arrival later this week, a MeT official said.
Meanwhile, the Central and state agencies have geared up to face any challenge arising out of the approaching cyclonic storm along the coast of Gujarat.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed its teams in vulnerable areas of Gujarat to deal with cyclonic storm. NDRF has pre-positioned seven rescue and relief teams at Gandhidam, Dwarka, Porbandar, Veeraval and Rajkot in Gujarat.
Two rescue teams have also been pre-positioned at Bhuj. Nine NDRF teams are also on standby and awaiting deployment instructions.
An estimated 30,000 people along coastal areas will be moved to safer places in Kutch district of Gujarat.
The evacuation will be carried out in tehsils of Abdasa (Naliya), Anjar, Bhachau, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Mandvi, Mundra and Nakhatrana.
