With more than 19,000 people in the state having been evacuated by the authorities as of Tuesday noon, lifeguards deployed at Versova beach were asked by their superiors to remain on high alert by for 48 hours (June 3-4), as cyclone Nisarga continued to lash Maharashtra.

The main entrance to the beach had been cordoned off since the lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in March. The two lifeguards present at Versova beach on Tuesday morning, namely, 30-year-old senior lifeguard Ravi Wadhwe and his 29-year-old junior Nikhil Bhanji, both residents of the nearby village, said that they would have to be extra vigilant between Wednesday and Thursday. The duo were holed up in a makeshift shed made of tin sheets located at the entrance of the beach, to keep an eye out.