Tauktae intensifies into extremely severe cyclonic storm
Mumbai/New Delhi: Tauktae has turned into an "extremely severe cyclonic storm", the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.
The rapid intensification happened in the early hours of Monday, said the IMD which had earlier not predicted that Tauktae will intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
It now has a wind speed of 180-190 kilometres per hour with winds gusting to 210 kilometres per hour. The IMD has, however, forecast that its intensity will reduce when it hits the Gujarat coast.
"The very severe cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' (pronounced as Tau'Te) over east central Arabian Sea moved north-north-westwards with a speed of about 20 kmph during past six hours, intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm," the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said
"It is very likely to move north-north-westwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening hours of 17th and cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) during the night (2000 2300 hours IST) of May 17 as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph," it added.
Around 1.5 lakh people are being shifted from low-lying coastal areas in Gujarat, while 54 teams of the NDRF and SDRF remained deployed after IMD's warning that Tauktae will reach the state coast on Monday evening and cross it Tuesday.
"The cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' has further intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm (ESCS) at 000 UTC and lay centred at 18.5N/71.5E, with a ragged eye," the IMD tweeted Monday morning.
"Very severe cyclonic storm 'Tauktae' over the east-central Arabian Sea intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm: cyclone warning and post-landfall outlook for Gujarat and Diu coasts (Red message)," the IMD tweeted.
Skymet, a private company that provides weather forecasts and solutions, said landfall is likely between Gujarat's Mahuva and Porbandar areas and close to Diu.
"A swathe of 100 km on either side of the anticipated strike always remains vulnerable," it said.
Gujarat Additional Chief Secretary Pankaj Kumar said 25,000 people have already been moved to safer places.
In Mumbai, five temporary shelters each have been put up in 24 civic wards of the metropolis so that citizens can be shifted there, if necessary.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, warning of very heavy rains at isolated places with strong winds on Monday as Tauktae is likely to pass close to the Mumbai coast.
Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) stationed in the western suburbs of Mumbai have been put on alert. Teams of the Indian Navy are also kept on standby, officials said.
Meanwhile, in Jalgaon in north Maharashtra, two people died and another was injured after a tree fell on a hut, an official said. It wasn't clear if the incident was directly related to the severity of the cyclonic storm.
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Conspiracy afoot to 'tarnish' image of Dharmasthala: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar
Bengaluru, Aug 14 (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Thursday said there was a “conspiracy” to tarnish the image of Dharmasthala.
His comments come amid an ongoing investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into serious allegations of mass burials in the revered temple town in Dakshina Kannada district.
“A conspiracy is being hatched to destroy hundreds of years of legacy. It is not correct to tarnish someone just like that. It has all happened due to one complainant,” he said.
Noting that some Congress MLAs have called for action against those involved in the slander campaign at the legislature party meeting, he said, “ I have told them that action must be taken against those who are indulging in a slander campaign. The CM has also said that action must be taken against such people.”
“I have information on this case. Religious feelings should not be hurt in any manner. Culprits must be punished,” he told reporters, according to a release from his office.
Responding to a question, Shivakumar said the Congress party will not allow the image of any religious place to be tarnished.
“We see everyone equally when it comes to religion,” he added.
The SIT, formed by the state government, is probing claims of mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala over the past two decades.
The complainant, a former sanitation worker whose identity has not been revealed, alleged that between 1995 and 2014 he was forced to handle bodies—including women and minors—and that some showed signs of sexual assault. He has given a statement before a magistrate.
As part of the probe, the SIT has been conducting exhumations at multiple locations identified by the complainant-witness in the forested areas along the banks of the Netravathi River in Dharmasthala, where some skeletal remains have been found at two sites so far.
