Thousands of fishermen in the central and southern coast of the state stayed away from the sea on Saturday following warning from the meteorological department about strong winds. The alert warned them against venturing into the sea for two more days, and district collectors have been directed to take necessary steps.

A number of boats stationed at Rameswaram on Saturday

Thiruchirapalli:

The Indian Meteorological Department alert on Friday warned of squally winds, with speed reaching 35 to 45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph likely to prevail occasionally over Gulf of Mannar and Comorin area. K Satyagopal, Commissioner of Revenue Administration, directed collectors of coastal districts to take necessary steps. 

Following this, fisheries department officials did not issue permits to fishermen, and have informed that the ban on fishing would be in place till Monday. Due to the strong winds, the sea would be rough in the Gulf of Mannar region, officials said. 

Similarly, more than 7,000 boats in Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Pudukkottai districts were anchored safely at the fishing harbours following the warning. As some fishermen had already ventured into the sea before the alert came, fisheries department officials are contacting them to ask them to immediately return to the shore.  

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, predicted on Saturday that isolated places in southern districts of the state would receive light rains while dry weather is likely to prevail in northern parts and Puducherry. 

According to weathermen, the sky condition would be partly cloudy and maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 32 and 24 degrees Celsius respectively in the city and suburbs for the next two days. 

“The new trough of low is likely to influence the weather over the next few days. Due to the partly cloudy skies, the early morning temperatures showed an increase in the last two days. From Sunday onwards, there will be some reduction in temperatures over south Tamil Nadu due to increased cloud cover and isolated rain prospects,” said an official at RMC.