All fishing boats which were out in the sea off Palghar coast have returned ahead of the cyclone 'Nisarga', which is set to make a landfall at Alibaug in neighbouring Raigad district of Maharashtra on Wednesday afternoon, an official said. As many as 577 fishing boats from Palghar had earlier gone out in the sea and till Monday evening, 564 came back. Later, help was sought from the Coast Guard, Navy and the fisheries department and the remaining 13 boats also returned to the shore late Tuesday evening, district disaster control chief Vivekanand Kadam said.

Till Wednesday morning, more than 15,000 people residing in low lying areas and 'kutcha' houses near the coast in Dahanu, Palghar, Vasai and Talasari tehsils of Palghar were evacuated and shifted to safer places, he said. Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have already been stationed in Palghar to meet any eventuality, another official said. The NDRF personnel on Tuesday went around some villages in the district and made locals aware of the do's and dont's during the cyclone.