Mumbai: Because of the warning on Cyclone Tauktae, the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Mumbai will remain suspended for the third day on Monday, according to BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The civic body's chief Iqbal Singh Chahal said the vaccination programme will now be implemented on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The BMC had on Friday announced that there would be no vaccination on May 15 and 16 considering the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) cyclone warning. A BMC official had earlier said that the civic body has shifted 580 patients from Covid-19 care centres in the city as a precautionary measure because of the warning that Cyclone Tauktae is likely to pass close to the city.

According to the IMD, Cyclone Tauktae has intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and is very likely to reach the Gujarat coast at around 2:30 am on May 18 and cross it between Porbandar and Mahuva in Bhavnagar district around the early morning hours.

The weather department has issued an orange alert for Mumbai warning of very heavy rains at isolated places with strong winds on Monday as Cyclone Tauktae is likely to pass close from the Mumbai coast towards Gujarat. Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) stationed in the western suburbs of Mumbai have been put on alert. Teams of the Indian Navy have also been kept on standby.

The Met department had earlier said that the cyclone could cause heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in north Konkan, Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar on Monday.