Cyclone Ockhi, which battered parts of southern India and left at least 25 people dead, was expected to make landfall in the west of the country over the next 24 hours, the Meteorological Department said on Monday. 
The cyclone had turned northwards from the Lakshwadeep archipelago and was expected to make landfall in the western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat on Tuesday. But it was also expected to weaken, the Met said in its latest bulletin. 
Fishermen in these regions and the Andaman and Nicobar islands were warned not to go out to sea. 
Hundreds of fishermen from the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala had gone missing as the cyclone hovered near their coasts last week bringing high-speed winds and heavy rains. 
At least 15 Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessels and eight aircraft were still carrying out search-and-rescue operations off the Kerala coast and near the Lakshwadeep islands, an Indian Navy spokesman said. 
Strong winds and stormy conditions were affecting the operations, he said. 
At least 600 fishermen had been rescued so far and many had managed to reach harbours as far as Gujarat and were being found along the coasts, Kerala official PH Kurian said.