Cyclone Maha likely to weaken into depression, light to moderate showers expected in parts of Maharashtra today, says IMD

New Delhi: The severe cyclonic storm Maha, which is currently over the Arabian Sea, is “very likely” to weaken into a depression by Thursday evening, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. [caption id=“attachment_7609131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representaional image. ANI[/caption] The cyclone is likely to cause light to moderate rains on Thursday in Thane, Palghar and Madhya Maharashtra, PTI reported. Thane and Palghar district administrations have stepped up preparedness to deal with any eventuality in view of the cyclonic storm. While the Palghar district administration had already ordered closure of educational institutions between 6 to 8 November, the collector of Thane district directed officials on Wednesday to take a call depending upon situation. In a bulletin released on Wednesday night, the weather department said Cyclone Maha had moved east-northeastwards with a speed of 21 kmph and lay centred over east-central and adjoining northeast the Arabian Sea, about 250 km southwest of Porbandar in Gujarat and 290 km west-southwest of Diu. “It is very likely to skirt Saurashtra coast and lay centred about 40 kms south of Diu around noon of 7 November as a deep depression. Continuing to move east-northeastwards, it is very likely to weaken further into a depression by tomorrow evening,” the IMD said, according to ANI. It said that a deep depression, which lay in the Bay of Bengal and is 780 km south-southeast of Odisha’s Paradip, is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours. “It is very likely to move northwestwards for some time and then north-northwestwards towards West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts,” the IMD said. With inputs from agencies