Cyclone Ockhi Blows Over Gujarat’s Political Storm

With elections around the corner, Cyclone Ockhi has come knocking on the state’s coast.

Ockhi inches closer to Gujarat.

(Photo courtesy: India Meteorological Department, Ahmedabad)

With elections around the corner, the political storm in Gujarat has been kicked up to the 11th gear, as Cyclone Ockhi came knocking on the state’s coast. After wreaking havoc in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep, the cyclonic storm catapulted itself from the southern tip of the Indian peninsula towards the coastline of Maharashtra and Gujarat.

According to a press release issued by the Indian Meteorological Department in Ahmedabad on Monday, Ockhi was 590 km southwest of Mumbai and 770 km south southwest of Surat on Monday evening and was expected to make landfall by midnight in Surat.

Ahmedabad woke up to light rain, cold winds and foggy weather.(Photo: Rahul Nair)

Ockhi is expected to weaken and cross South Gujarat coast by midnight. As a result, South Gujarat, East Gujarat & Saurashtra may experience heavy rainfall.

Ockhi’s Impact

The IMD predicts light to moderate rain at most places in the districts of South Gujarat region, Saurashtra and in Diu, Daman, Dadra Nagar Haveli with heavy rainfall at isolated places very likely. Light to moderate rain is very likely at isolated places in Kutch district.

In the last 24 hours, Mahuva recorded 13 mm of rains, Diu 8 mm, Valsad 7 mm, Surat and Ahmedabad 1 mm, Veraval 0.6 mm while Surendranagar, Gandhinagar, Idar, and Kandla witnessed some light rains.

Fishing boats crowd the Porbandar fishermen’s port on Tuesday morning.(Photo courtesy: Nimesh Gondaliya)

Disaster Management Teams on High Alert

Two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams each have been deployed at Navsari and Rajkot. In Olpad, Surat, over 1,600 people were moved to safer areas whereas two boats were reported missing. Around 17 villages in Navsari and 30 villages and three talukas in Bharuch are on high alert. Meanwhile, ferry services in Dwarka have been suspended indefinitely.

Valsad received heavy rain on Monday night accompanied by cold winds. Local administration has alerted the coastal area and 185 boats with 1,800 fishermen are back and have anchored their boats since last evening. High tide is expected around 2:30 pm on Tuesday.

Rain-soaked streets in Valsad after Ockhi makes landfall.(Photo courtesy: Brijesh Shah)

Surat, where the eye of the storm was supposed to pass over, has been put on high alert and four NDRF teams have been deployed here. Industrial areas in Surat have been closed and the Coast Guard have been informed to look out for stranded vessels and fishermen.

Poll Campaigning Affected

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about Cyclone Ockhi and said he is monitoring the situation. He also appealed to BJP workers to focus on helping people affected by the cyclone.

The rains ensured that BJP National President Amit Shah's rallies in Rajula(Amreli), Shihor and Mahuva (Bhavnagar) stand cancelled. Apart from this, Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje's rally in Majura was also cancelled due to rainy weather. BJP’s Manoj Tiwari and NCP’s Praful Patel too cancelled their schedule for the day due to poor weather.