For the first time ever, a cyclonic storm trailing the Konkan-Gujarat border has linked Mumbai with the worldwide phenomenon of climate change. The storm, which started as a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal off the Kerala coast on Monday, moved northwards towards Konkan coast and intensified into a cyclonic storm on Tuesday.

The Mumbai Met department officials said on Tuesday evening that the cyclone was likely to intensify further and move north-northeastwards, crossing south Gujarat and north Maharashtra coast between Mahuva and Dahanu by Thursday. The system is expected to cause widespread rainfall across Mumbai as well as inland Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh till Thursday.

At 2.30 pm on Tuesday, the outer tip of the cyclone had begun to touch Mumbai, according to Joint Cyclone Warning Centre, a United States Navy and Air Force task force located in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 8.30 pm, its website stated that the cyclone was located 453.74 km south-southwest of Mumbai, and tracked northwards. It forecast that the velocity could intensify further to a maximum of 70 km per hour. It has been forecast to touch 15 knots in 24 hours.

In 48 hours, the cyclone is expected to dissipate over land in Gujarat.

Professor Kapil Gupta of the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT, explained, “The cyclone is a low level system, described as Tropical Cyclone (TC) 1.5 as per its intensity. The high intensity cyclones, which ravage the Bay of Bengal, are usually classified as TC 3.5. While there aren’t many chances of major destruction to life and property, we can expect heavy rainfall, tree collapses, waterlogging and the usual civic disasters for the next 48 hours.”

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