AMN
The cyclonic storm “Nivar,” in the South West Bay of Bengal has caused widespread rain in Tamil Nadu. Many parts of Chennai and its suburbs were pounded by several hours of heavy rain, leading to flooding even on arterial roads.
The MeT Department in Chennai says, the Cyclone Nivar is moving north westwards with the speed of five kilometres an hour for the past six hours. It currently lies 430 km south-south east of Chennai and 380 km east-south east of Puducherry. It is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12-hours and further into a very severe cyclonic storm in the subsequent 12-hours.
Cyclone Nivar is expected to move in the west-northwest direction for the next 12-hours and then turn towards the north-western direction. It is set to cross the coast between Karaikal and Mamallapuram close to Puducherry, Wednesday late evening as a very severe cyclonic storm. During its landfall, the wind speed is expected to be in the range of 120 to 130 km an hour, gushing to 145 km per hour. AIR correspondent reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the Centre’s full-fledged support to the Tamil Nadu Government in its efforts to mitigate the effects of Cyclone ‘Nivar.’ He gave the assurance to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy during his interaction on Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, the state government has deployed senior IAS officials to the vulnerable districts to coordinate the rescue and relief works. The Director General of Police JK Tripathy has delegated nine IPS officials to the districts to coordinate the works on behalf of the police.
The Chennai Corporation, Metrowater and the districts concerned have also established control rooms to monitor the situation seamlessly and to attend to the grievances of the public during the cyclone. Staff from various departments are represented in the control rooms to effectively carry out the relief works.