Chennai: Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds battered the southernmost coast of Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the deep depression over the Comorin Sea intensified into Cyclone Ockhi. Four people died in in and around Kanyakumari in rain-related incidents. About ten fishermen were also reported missing and the Kanyakumari district administration has launched a search operation for them.
Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy, who reviewed the preparations taken up in the wake of the cyclone alert at the state secretariat, dispatched senior IAS officials and state ministers to speed up the monsoon relief works in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.
Senior bureaucrats B. Chandra Mohan, T K Ramachandran, Kumar Jayanth and Rajendra Kumar were appointed as special officers to lead the relief works in Kany-akumari, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Ramaathapuram districts.
In a statement, the chief minister urged the public not to panic and said that two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) with about 60 personnel have been sent to coastal Kanyakumari.
Besides, the district collectors have been instructed to take all measures to prevent flooding and also evacuate public from low-lying areas, he said.
According to Madhavan Rajeevan, secretary in the ministry of Earth Science, the archipelago in the southern part of the Arabian Sea will start experiencing heavy rainfall and strong winds from Friday. “It will hit the Lakshadweep islands on December 2”, Rajeevan said.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said heavy-to-very-heavy rainfall at isolated places was “very likely” over south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala for the next 24 hours. Rainfall will occur at most places, heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, very likely over Lakshadweep area, during next 48 hours”, the IMD said in its weather bulletin.
Squally winds, reaching speeds of 55-65 kmph and gusting to 75 kmph, were likely along and around Lakshadweep Islands during the next 12 hours and may increase thereafter with wind speed becoming 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph from Thursday night. For the next 48 hours, the sea conditions would be “very rough to high”, the IMD added.
