After 'Nisarga' in 2020, cyclone 'Tauktae' batters Raigad again

Raigad district in Maharashtra bore the brunt of nature's fury for the second year in a row when cyclonic storm Tauktae passed close to the Konkan coast, killing four persons in separate incidents and damaging many houses, officials said on Tuesday.

Last June, severe cyclonic storm Nisarga had caused widescale damage in this coastal district, located about 100 km away from Mumbai.

The four fatalities on Monday occurred in the incidents of falling of a tree and collapse of a wall in Uran and Roha.

Altogether, 8,383 people from 2,299 families were shifted to safer places in Raigad district till Monday night, officials said.

On Monday, many areas in the district plunged into darkness as high-speed winds coupled with heavy rains damaged the power infrastructure.

A total of 135 high tension wire poles, 418 local transmission poles and eight transformers were damaged in the cyclone, they said.

Altogether 53 houses from a village in Khalapur tehsil were partially damaged.

In Alibaug tehsil, a popular tourist spot, 733 houses were partially damaged while one house suffered extensive damage, as per officials. A total of 433 houses were partially damaged in Pen tehsil.

Many houses were also partially damaged in Uran, Karjat, Panvel, Mahad, Poladpur, Mangaon, and Shrivardhan tehsils of the district.

The gusty winds and rains packed by the cyclone also damaged mangoes on trees in the Raigad district, officials said.

District Collector Nidhi Chaudhary has directed all tehsildars to assess the damage caused by the cyclone.