Cyclone Asna, formed over the coast of Kutch in Gujarat earlier during the day, has moved into the Arabian sea towards Oman without leaving any major impact on the region, officials said on Friday evening. As a precautionary measure, the local administration had shifted nearly 3,500 persons to safer locations and had asked people living in huts and mud houses to take shelter in other buildings, said Kutch district collector Amit Arora.
"Since the cyclone has already entered the sea and is heading towards Oman, there was an impact on the coast. Except for some rain and winds blowing at considerable speed, there was no impact here. There was no immediate news about injury or death or collapse of any major structure," said Arora. In a release issued on Friday evening, IMD said the deep depression over Kutch coast and adjoining areas of Pakistan had "intensified into Cyclonic Storm Asna and lay centered at 11:30 am over the same region nearly 190 km west-northwest of Bhuj".
The IMD had earlier said the deep depression over the area might turn into a cyclonic storm by Friday morning, following which authorities took steps to shift people to safety. Arora had also issued a video message asking people living in Abdasa, Mandvi and Lakhpat talukas to leave their huts and kutcha houses and take shelter in any school or other buildings.
Following the IMD warning, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had reached the State Emergency Operations Centre in Gandhinagar on Thursday night and talked to Arora through video conference about the district administration's preparedness.
If the deep depression turns into a cyclone, it will be named Asna, a name suggested by Pakistan. This is a rare occurrence that a deep depression over land has converted to a cyclonic storm over the sea. The formation of a cyclone in August in the Arabian Sea is also rare, officials said. During this period, the sea conditions will be rough and wind speed may reach up to 75 kmph along and off the Gujarat coast, the IMD had warned said.
