Cyclone Nisarga will be first big cyclone to hit Mumbai

Fishing boats seen anchored at a shore following a warning by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for fishermen not to enter the Arabian Sea for the next two days as a precaution against cyclone 'Nisarga', at Uttan beach in Thane, Monday, June 1, 2020. (PTI Photo/Mitesh Bhuvad)

When Cyclone Nisarga makes landfall, it would perhaps be the first time in recent history that a cyclone would hit Mumbai.

The cyclone is expected to make a landfall in Maharashtra's coastal Konkan region, particularly the Palghar district, that comes under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Track live updates of Cyclone Nisarga here

According to IMD records, in the last over a century's time, Mumbai and its suburbs, have not experienced such a cyclone.

"In the recent past there has not been any record of a big cyclone like this," said Dr VK Rajeev, former director of IMD-Mumbai. If one surfs the Internet, one gets umpteen references to Great Bombay Cyclone of 1882, but research had found it to be "hoax" or "fictitious", if one goes by a study conducted by Colombia University, New York, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

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In November 2009, Cyclone Phyan had hit the Maharashtra coast during when Mumbai experienced heavy rainfall but no major damage was reported in India's commercial capital.