The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday that deep stress on the Arabian Sea has intensified in Hurricane ‘Tauktae’.
It is likely to cross the Gujarat coast between Purbandar and Naliya on May 18.
It said the hurricane would be a severe cyclone from May 16-18.
The name “Tauktae” has been given by Myanmar, which means “gecko”, meaning a very vocal lizard in Burmese.
A severe cyclone , Tauktae, intensified on Saturday night into a “very severe cyclonic storm” with a speed of about 9 km per hour in the past six hours,
Across the Middle East Arabian sea, and affected Kerala, Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra coast over the weekend.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, it is “very likely to intensify” in the next 12 hours, and could cross the coast of Gujarat on Tuesday.
Ocean warming means cyclones are now accelerating.
Although scientists need to invest more in monitoring technology for storm tracking, state governments will now have less time to take evacuation steps.
And therefore, they will now have to prepare for their storms, Now plans need to be strengthened, but this is not happening.
Reports suggest that the pace of the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project, which aims to reduce the risk to coastal states, is much slower in the western parts of the country.
The second phase of the project was approved in 2015 and was to be completed in 2020 for Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Maharashtra.
But statistics show that early warning systems and multi-purpose cyclone shelters may not yet be completed in many of these states.
Although ‘Tauktae’ is the first cyclone to hit India this year,
Climate scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) have warned that the Arabian Sea is fast becoming a “cyclone hotbed”.
