In the wake of the imminent warning posed by Cyclone Nisarga that is likely to hit Mumbai today (June 3) afternoon, the Central Railways rescheduled, diverted, and monitored eight trains that were supposed to arrive/depart from the state capital on Wednesday.
Issuing a statement, the Central Railway (CR) said, "Five special trains departing from Mumbai have been rescheduled, and three special trains will be either diverted or regulated enroute."
As per the Central Railways, the timings of 02542 LTT-Gorakhpur, 06345 LTT-Thiruvananthapuram, 01061 LTT-Darbhanga, 01071 LTT-Varanasi, 01019 CSMT-Bhubaneshwar special trains, which were scheduled to leave Mumbai area during the daytime, were changed to night.
Likewise, special trains from Patna, Varanasi, and Thiruvananthapuram, which were scheduled to reach Mumbai during the daytime, were monitored and will arrive before the schedule.
Over 10 teams of NDRF had been stationed in Maharashtra till Tuesday afternoon, and five more teams were en route for the continuing operations in the wake of Cyclone Nisarga.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said that the tropical storm Nisarga, which is heading towards Gujarat and Maharashtra, is likely to intensify into a "severe cyclonic storm" in the next 24 hours and is expected to make landfall close to Mumbai on June 3, with a wind velocity of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph.
Mumbai gears up to minimise destruction
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray notified that his government is implementing rigorous precautionary measures to reduce loss by Cyclone Nisarga, which is assumed to cross north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coast between Harihareshwar and Daman.
