Cyclone Ockhi, which left behind a trail of destruction in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep, is expected to make landfall in Gujarat on Tuesday night which may cause heavy rains in the state and adjoining Maharashtra.

An India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast said, “The severe cyclonic storm Ockhi is now laid centred about 850 km south-southwest of Surat and is likely to cross south Gujarat and adjoining North Maharashtra coasts near Surat as a deep depression by mid-night of December 5.”

“We have issued heavy rainfall warnings for Gujarat, while light to moderate rain is expected in isolated areas in north Konkan, including Mumbai, on Tuesday,” IMD’s director general KJ Ramesh said.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai and adjoining districts have been asked to remain closed on Tuesday due to “serious weather predictions”, Maharashtra’s school education minister Vinod Tawde said.

The impact of the cyclone will be seen in Palghar, Thane, Raigarh, and Greater Mumbai districts of Maharashtra and Valsad, Surat, Navsari, Bharuch, Dang, Tapi, Amreli, Gir- Somnath and Bhavnagar districts of Gujarat.

Union Territories Daman, Diu and Dadra, Nagar Haveli will also be affected.

The scale of the cyclone was reduced from ‘very severe’ on Sunday to ‘severe’, the weather department said.

It has warned fisherman along the Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka coastline not to venture into the sea from Monday to Wednesday.

Earlier Sitharaman later chaired a meeting with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and reviewed the situation. Tamilnadu Cheif minsiter Palanisamy is busy with his admk party man for 100th year celebration of party founder in coimbatore with much galore.

Tempers ran high on the coast when Sitharaman arrived and the angry relatives of the missing fishermen took exception to the presence of two ADMK state ministers in the team. Sitharaman had a tough time pacifying them. DMK working President and oppostion leader M.K. Stalin visited the affected family and offered condolences and written to Defense Minster for speedy relief to trace the missing 2500 plus fisherman in Tamilnadu.