Cyclone Tauktae will be entering Rajasthan as a depression by late Tuesday night, seven districts of the state will be witnessing heavy to very heavy rainfall, the MeT department announced on Tuesday.
“The cyclone will be entering Rajasthan by late Tuesday night. At present, the system is in Gujarat near Ahmedabad. It will enter the state as depression tonight and will weaken by May 20,” said Radhey Shyam, MeT director.
He said heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in south Rajasthan and some areas of the Jaipur division on Wednesday.
The department has sounded a red alert for over half a dozen of districts in the state, including Jalore, Sirohi, Udaipur, Pali, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh and Rajsamand, where heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected on Wednesday.
The state government has deployed SDRF teams in the southern and western districts of Rajasthan. Additional DGP (Law and Order), Saurabh Srivastava, said that companies of the Special Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) have been deployed at Sachore, Jalore, Banswara and Dungarpur to contain any aftermaths of the cyclone.
“Because the cyclone is rapidly changing the course, we have also sent our teams near Pali to ensure that our preparedness is complete,” he said, adding that apart from southern Rajasthan, which is likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone, additional teams drawn from other units of the state police have also been deployed in areas which are expected to be hit by the cyclone.
Rajasthan police are also in touch with the meteorological department. The SDRF and Rajasthan Police had already sent an order to the IGs of Jodhpur and Udaipur to keep a close watch on areas like Sirohi, Dungarpur, Jalore and Banswara.
Rescue teams are stationed in Raniwra, Bhinmal, Mount Abu areas where local police are working in tandem with the district administration.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday several places in Rajasthan recorded rainfall triggered by Tauktae cyclone. Bhilwara recorded a maximum of 50 mm rainfall, followed by Chittorgarh which recorded 25 mm of rain. Dabok, Vanasthali, Sawaimadhopur, Bundi, Ajmer also received 20.6, 20, 16, 14 and 11.8 mm of rainfall respectively, according to the MeT department.