Cyclone Nisarga claims 4 lives in Maha and then fizzles out

Barely 18 hours after hitting Maharashtra, the Cyclone Nisarga -- which claimed 4 lives -- fizzled out into a depression and was headed towards the Vidarbha region in the east, officials said here on Thursday.

"The deep depression weakened into a depression over west Vidarbha at 0530 (4th June), to move east-northeastwards and weaken into a well marked low pressure area by today evening," the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin.

The cyclone, which made its landfall at Shriwardhan-Dive Agar in Raigad district, later diverted towards Pune and by Thursday morning was headed east from the Nashik region to the Vidarbha region.

Both Raigad and Pune have reported two cyclone-related deaths till now, besides at least 10 injuries.

The victims include a 53-year old shopkeeper who was hit by an electric pole in Umte village, and a 15-year old boy crushed under a tree in Shriwardhan, both in Raigad.

A 55-year old man was killed when a tin sheet from a roof blew off in Haveli and a 65-year old was crushed when her home caved in at Khed, both in Pune.

Mumbai escaped the brunt of the cyclone, and there were no fatalities in any other coastal Konkan districts, but there has been huge damage to homes, buildings, coastal village colonies, vehicles, hundreds of trees, farmland crops and plantations, etc.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered the concerned district authorities to submit a full damage assessment report along with 'panchnamas' immediately.

Since early Thursday, the after effects of Nisarga continued with heavy rains lashing Ratnagiri, Raigad, Mumbai, Thane and Palghar, providing a welcome relief from the stifling weather conditions of the past few summer months.