Cyclone Gaja: Wind speeds in the city of Bangalore increased by four times

BENGALURU: Gaja, the cyclonic storm that has wiped out the  parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, has also had its impact on Bengaluru. The wind speeds within the city had increased by four times when compared to the daily average for the next 24 hours between Thursday morning and Friday. This has become a major concern among the commuters, especially for those who have to drive on elevated roads in the city.

Bengaluru, on average, experiences a wind with the speed of about 4-6 kmph. But between 9.25 AM on Thursday and at the same time on Friday, the weatherman said that the speed has averaged at 16mph. In fact, the highest speed that has been recorded during the said time was 32 km h, which is about eight times more than the daily average.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) centre that i situated in Bengaluru, the wind speed varied between 16kmph and 20kmph.

CS Patil the director of the  IMD Bengaluru director had explained that, “Wind speed in the city increased because of Gaja, which caused the pressure to fall in the areas it passed through and surroundings.”

While the people who are commuting at the surface level did not notice much of the change given that buildings and other structures offset the speed, those who used elevated roads and flyovers — like on Mysore Road —  had faced the strong wind. Motorists who were heading from Sirsi Circle said that the wind was travelling in the opposite direction, which had reduced the pace of the vehicles. They even complained of their vehicles drifting from one side of the road to another. you

Urging the people not to panic, Patil said that only wind speed which is above 50 mph could cause any serious concern. “Only when the speed crosses 62 mph do we call it a cyclonic storm,” he said.

BBMP and police officials had said that no untoward incidents have been reported due to the cyclone’s effect in the city, barring one case of a tree falling in RT Nagar, north Bangalore, early Friday.