Mumbai: As Cyclone Nisarga made landfall barely 40 km away from Alibaug on the Maharashtra coastline, powered by winds speeds over 110 km per hour and heavy rainfall on Wednesday, it felled many trees and electricity poles in and around the region. Residents of Alibaug, Raigad and other areas said that winds blew away the roofs of their houses and downed mobile networks.
Residents of areas like Rewas, Revdanda and Nagaon in Alibaug said they watched in horror as the wind skimmed off the roofs of their houses. "Many trees in my property in Nagaon and Rewas fell, including jackfruit trees. The roofs of at least six houses in my locality were blown away between 2pm and 3pm on Wednesday. Shanties in a locality nearby were razed in no time. We have no electricity, and with all this destruction, we are really very scared," said Rajendra Gharat, a resident of Nagaon.
The cyclone hit areas near Diveagar in Shrivardhan, 87 kilometres from Raigad, said the district collector of Raigad, Nidhi Choudhary. "Due to the impact of the wind gusts, many trees and electric poles have fallen in Shrivardhan, as well as in Alibaug. Restoration work, including removal of trees blocking the road, has already begun. However it will take us a few days to restore the situation."
Choudhary said that 13,541 people had been shifted to safer places until Wednesday evening. "We identified 62 villages in a fivekilometres radius of the coastline (in Raigad) and are taking extra precautions there," the collector said.
She and her team have been continuously appealing to people to stay indoors until Thursday morning for their own safety and shifted many to safer places like government schools and elsewhere. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the landfall process started around 12.30pm near Alibaug, 95 km from Mumbai. "Not just in the coastal areas of Raigad, but residents of towns like Roha, Tala, Sudhagad, Khalapur, Mangaon, Panvel and Poladpur will also have to remain alert," Choudhary said.
Bhuvendra Naik, a resident of Mangaon in Raigad said, "Government officials have been visiting all the villages around Mangaon and appealing to people on public announcement systems to go with them to safer places arranged for their accommodation. While my parents, wife and kids joined them, I stayed back with my brother. A temporary shed from where we operated an eatery was completely shattered."
Director General of the NDRF Satya Narayan Pradhan took to Twitter and shared some graphic pictures and videos from Raigad, showing how high-speed winds ripped off the tin roof of a house in the Pen region. While not as devastating as the recent Cyclone Amphan which ravaged West Bengal, Odisha and Bangladesh, Nisarga has left a trail of destruction as it raced through Maharashtra's coast.
