Mumbai: Actor Sonu Sood on Thursday said he and his team provided food and rehabilitation to 28,000 people living close to the coastal lines when Cyclone Nisarga made its way to Mumbai.

The cyclone spared India's financial capital, which is already reeling under the COVID-19 pandemic, after it made landfall near adjoining Alibaug on Wednesday.

Sood, who has been arranging transport facilities for migrant workers to return to their home safely amid the pandemic, said they have moved the people to municipality schools and colleges for safety.

Today, all of us are facing tough times and the best way to fight this is by being each other's strongest support system. My team and I have distributed food to over 28,000 people from the coastal areas across Mumbai and rehabilitated them in various schools and colleges. We are making sure all of them are safe, Sood said in a statement here.

The actor has also helped over 200 migrants from Assam, who were homeless and stranded in Mumbai due to Cyclone Nisarga. After the migrants reached out to Sood on Twitter, he made arrangements for their stay and food, the release said.

The Assamese migrants have been moved to shelter homes where they will be staying until they're sent home, it said.

Cyclone Nisarga is now a depression over west Vidarbha region in Maharashtra and will weaken further, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday.

The cyclone had hit the coastal districts of Maharashtra from Arabian Sea with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph) on Wednesday afternoon. Mumbai was on edge as it braced for the cyclone after a gap of 72 years.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged the Centre to immediately intervene to address a severe shortage of commercial LPG in Bengaluru, saying the crisis is forcing restaurants and related establishments to shut down and impacting a wide cross-section of the public dependent on the hospitality sector.

In a letter written to Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday and shared with the media on Thursday, Siddaramaiah highlighted a sharp mismatch between demand and supply, noting that only a fraction of the required cylinders is being made available.

“As against the demand of 50,000 LPG cylinders from restaurants, hotels, catering establishments and PG accommodations etc., we are able to supply only 1,000 cylinders per day,” the Chief Minister said.

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He added that the shortage has led to a visible increase in shutting down of establishments due to unavailability of commercial LPG, affecting students, IT professionals, farmers, dairy producers and others reliant on the hospitality ecosystem.

Referring to recent directions from the Ministry prioritising domestic LPG supply, Siddaramaiah said the State has taken steps to regulate allocation for essential segments in line with the Centre’s guidelines, but the situation remains critical.

The CM also flagged the absence of an integrated monitoring system for commercial LPG distribution, in contrast to the existing IT system for domestic gas supply, leading to gaps in transparency and oversight.

He further pointed out that Auto LPG, a key fuel for autorickshaws that provide last-mile connectivity in Bengaluru, is also facing similar issues due to the lack of a monitoring mechanism.

Noting that India is expected to receive two LPG tankers soon, Siddaramaiah sought the Union Minister’s intervention to ensure adequate allocation to Karnataka, particularly Bengaluru, considering its operational needs and dependency patterns.

“I request your kind intervention to ensure adequate allocation and availability of commercial LPG and Auto LPG to Karnataka, keeping in view the operational requirements and unique dependency patterns of the State, especially city of Bengaluru,” he said.