Cyclone Nisarga wall cloud passes through Raigad, landfall process begins: IMD

The landfall process of Cyclone Nisarga has begun and will continue for three hours, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. The IMD further informed that the centre of the severe Cyclone Nisarga is very close to Maharashtra coast and the northeast sector of the eye of the severe cyclonic storm is entering into the land.

The right side of the wall cloud region passed through coastal Maharashtra covering the Raigad district. It will gradually enter into Mumbai and Thane district during the next 3 hours, IMD said. It also shared satellite images of the wall cloud moving across the sky across Maharashtra.

A wall cloud is a large and lowered cloud that often leads to tornadoes and cyclones.

READ | Cyclone Nisarga LIVE Updates: 3-hour Landfall process begins; Mumbai braces for onset

Evacuation operation by the NDRF

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with the local authorities, have been conducting evacuation operations since Wednesday morning. Several schools have been turned into temporary shelters. "A total of 13,541 people have been evacuated to safer places in the district," said Nidhi Chaudhary, Raigad Collector. Several NDRF teams have been deployed across the state to facilitate the evacuation operations. 

About 43 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams are deployed in the two states; of which 21 are in Maharashtra. Nearly 1 lakh people have been evacuated from the cyclone spot, ANI quoted NDRF DG SN Pradhan quoted as saying.

READ | Cyclone Nisarga to make landfall in Maharashtra between 1 PM to 4 PM; evacuation underway

BMC shifts animals

In the wake of Cyclone Nisarga, the BMC has shifted Veer Mata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo animals, including tiger, leopard, hyena and others, into their holding areas at the zoo which are safer to avoid any damage from tree fall, ANI reported. Quoting BMC, the news agency said that the emergency response team at the zoo with all the necessary equipment is deputed to tackle any untoward incidence. CCTV monitoring of prone areas is also being done for quick response.

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(with inputs from ANI)