Cyclone Maha: Indian coast guard on standby with 6 ships, 1 aircraft

The Indian Coast Guard has deployed six ships and one aircraft while disaster response teams are on kept on high alert for rescue and relief operations in case of any contingency in the wake of Cyclone Maha that has hit the Southern coastal stretch of Indian in the Arabian sea. The Indian coast guard team took to Twitter to apprise on the developments in response to cyclone Maha.

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Aircraft were also deployed to asses the damage and to locate and rescue the stranded fishing boats from the sea. Additionally, eight passenger-vessels of Union Territory administration are also on standby for immediate deployment. On October 31, the Indian Coast Guard vessel rescued five fishermen who had ventured into the sea for fishing on October 28 from Chettuva Harbour in Thrissur, Kerala.

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Fourth Cyclone in the year

Cyclone Maha is the fourth cyclone this year in the Arabian Sea, that is set to intensify further into a 'Severe Cyclonic Storm' in the next six hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Some parts of Kerala, coastal Karnataka and southern part of Tamil Nadu are likely to receive "heavy to very heavy rainfalls" in the next 24 hours, IMD warned. An Orange alert has already been issued in four districts of Kerala —Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode. Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are likely to witness heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours as Cyclone Maha intensifies. All schools and colleges in Kochi and Paravur districts of Kerala remained closed due to impending rain. The storm would move over Lakshadweep Islands before emerging into the east-central Arabian Sea. Lakshadweep will receive extremely heavy rainfall today.

(With ANI inputs)

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