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A cyclone may strike the Konkan coast, from Karwar in Karnataka to Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, including Goa, by Wednesday afternoon.
Strong winds have started blowing here, although the storm was 350 km away on Tuesday evening, towards the west-south-west of Goa.
According to S R Bajpai, director of the India Meteorological Observatory, gale force winds at the speed of 80 to 100 kmph are likely to be experienced over the sea area of Karnataka and Konkan Goa coast.
The observatory also expects rain, categorised as heavy and very heavy, over the coast of Karnataka, Konkan, Goa as well as many places of Kerala and Lakshadweep.
Though cyclonic winds have passed the Goa-Konkan coast in the past, when they struck the Gujarat coast, Bajpai said those winds were far away and were not as dangerous as these winds.
The storm situation is likely to intensify, said Bajpai, with the winds moving initially in the east-north-eastern direction. It is likely to cross the coast between Karwar to Ratnagiri by Wednesday afternoon.
As the sea condition will be high and very high, fishermen along the Goa and Konkan coasts are alerted not go out for fishing in the next 48 hours.
The state machinery has been kept ready to face any eventuality, said chief secretary Balleshwar Rai. He held an emergency meeting in the evening to review contingency plans to face any eventuality.
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