A depression over east Equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.

The system lay centred at about 1,440 km southeast of Chennai and 1,720 km south­southeast of Machilipatnam at 1430 hrs.

"It is very likely to intensify further into a deep depression during the next 24 hours and into a cyclonic storm during subsequent 12 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards off Sri Lanka coast during the next 96 hours and reach near north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts on April 30 evening," the IMD said in a bulletin.

The met office has forecast light to moderate rainfall in coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala and rainfall at isolated places in South Coastal Andhra Pradesh on April 28.

Rainfall at most places with heavy falls at isolated places is likely in all three states on April 29.

--IANS

ms/mr

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