The strong winds which lashed the Maharashtra coast due to the impact of Cyclone Tauktae left five houses completely damaged and partially destroyed 1,886 houses.
The gusty winds, touching speeds of 60 to 70 kmph, also knocked down trees and electricity poles in several places which are being cleared on a war footing. Cyclone Nisarga in June last year had witnessed wind speeds of 150 kmph and lasted for just about four hours but had severely destroyed the power infrastructure.
“Electricity poles have been damaged in Alibag and Shrivardhan. Road blockades are being cleared by field teams immediately,” Raigad Collector Nidhi Choudhary said.
The district has 100 Covid care hospitals of which 55 are in rural Raigad. Of these, 26 rural hospitals are running on direct power supply from MSEDCL and 29 on generator backup. Of the 45 such hospitals in Panvel Municipal Corporation, 44 are running on direct power supply and one hospital is running on generator backup.
There were reports of damage to trees, vehicles and roofs of houses in Navi Mumbai also. The intensity of the wind caused a crack in the glass pane at the jumbo Covid facility at the Cidco Exhibition Centre. “The glass pane had a crack but no one was injured. Fire and electrical teams are stationed at all Covid centres and they swung into action when the damage was reported,” an officer from Disaster management cell of NMMC said.
