Cyclone Tauktae live updates: Weakened cyclone moves north, Delhi-NCR braces for rain

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani remained stationed at the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) for a considerable time during the last 24 hours as cyclone Tauktae was moving fast towards the state, an official release said on Tuesday.

The Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday rescued eight fishermen onboard a fishing boat which drifted into the sea off the coast of Veraval harbour in Gujarat due to cyclone Tauktae, officials said. Besides, two Coast Guard Chetak helicopters, operating from the CG air base at the Union Territory of Daman, rescued eight crew members of stranded ship 'Gal Constructor' from the sea off the Satpati coast (in neighbouring Maharashtra) amidst very rough and inclement weather conditions, a release said.

Cyclonic storm 'Tauktae', which hit the Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una on Monday night after passing close to the Konkan coast in Maharashtra, disrupted the power supply of 18.43 lakh consumers in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, an official release said on Tuesday. Supply of 52 per cent of these consumers from 3,665 villages in these two districts has been restored while efforts are on on a war footing to restore electricity in the rest of the areas, it said. Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut said 13,172 staffers are working tirelessly to restore the supply of the remaining consumers, the statement said.

At least seven people were killed in Gujarat as cyclone Tauktae battered parts of the state and left behind a trail of destruction along the coast, uprooting electric poles and trees, and damaging several houses and roads, officials said on Tuesday. Over 16,000 houses were damaged, and more than 40,000 trees and over 1,000 poles uprooted due to the cyclonic storm, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said. The landfall process of the eye of the extremely severe cyclonic storm Tauktae, which hit the Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una, ended around midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General SN Pradhan on Tuesday said that the 'worst is over' and Cyclone Tauktae will "become a depression" by today evening. Pradhan said, "The cyclone has weakened into a cyclonic storm level and probably in another couple of hours it will become a cyclonic system which is a much lower category. By the time it reaches Gujarat coast in the late evening, it would have become a depression...The worst is over."

Surat airport's operations to remain suspended till 6pm on Tuesday

Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai is now open to commute: BMC

Battling extreme weather, the Indian Navy has so far rescued 177 people on board a barge that went adrift in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai hours before Cyclone Tauktae made landfall on the Gujarat coast, an official said on Tuesday. Navy ships were deployed on Monday after receipt of a request for assistance for barge 'P305' adrift off Heera oil fields in Bombay high area with 273 personnel on board. The oil fields are around 70 km southwest of Mumbai. Sixty persons on board the barge were rescued till 11 pm and the remaining overnight, the official said, adding a Navy helicopter brought three rescuees to INS Shikra this morning.

Mumbai received 230mm rainfall due to the cyclonic storm Tauktae, with a weather expert claiming it to be the highest 24-hour downpour in May in the recorded history. According to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre, the Santacruz observatory (representative of suburbs) recorded 230.3mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30am on Tuesday. Besides, the Colaba observatory (representative of south Mumbai) recorded 207.6mm rain during the same period. As per the IMD's calculations, rainfall above 204.5mm is considered as extremely heavy.

Three people have lost their lives due to Tauktae Cyclone. Around 40,000 trees have fallen and 16,500 huts affected in the state: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani

The Indian Army on Tuesday said that six rescue and relief teams have been activated for rescue and relief operations in Diu in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae. Six additional Army teams have also been staged forward to Junagarh to deal with aftereffects of cyclone at other cyclone-hit places like Botad, Amreli and Bhavnagar. "These teams had travelled for 12 hours, braving cyclonic high-speed winds and rains to reach Diu," the Indian Army said.

The Indian Navy (IN) has despatched its warship INS Talwar to an oil rig and a barge with total 297 people stranded on board in the Bombay High Fields vicinity as the fallout of the Cyclone Tauktae continues, here on Tuesday. An official said the INS Talwar is going to the oil rig Sagar Bhushan with 101 people on board and the accommodation Barge SS-3 with 196 persons. Lashed and tossed around by high waves, both the vessels are drifting dangerously in the extreme sea conditions and are currently reported to be around 90 kms south-east of the Pipavav Port in Gujarat.