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Cyclone Nivar: TN CM EPS declares public holiday for the state! What you must know?

By alagu, 24 November, 2020
India, Tamilnadu, Chennai, Cyclone, Rainfall

As Tamil Nadu is preparing to brace up and tackle Cyclone Nivar which will be making landfall in the coastal districts of the state on Wednesday, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami has on Tuesday announced a public holiday in the state on Wednesday owing to cyclone even the state government has been unfolding precautionary measures to tackle the cyclone. 

The Chief Minister has declared a public holiday for the state on Wednesday when the state machinery and concerned departments have been reviewing and expediting the relief works in the state amid some of the districts including Chennai have been receiving heavy rainfall. The Cyclone will be crossing Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal in Puducherry and Mahabalipuram in Chennai in the afternoon hours on Wednesday. 

In his order, the Chief Minister had declared a public holiday on Wednesday and he appealed to the people not to exit their residences until everything gets into normalcy. The Chief Minister said that apart from the essential services, all other government services and offices will be closed across the state. He further stated that the government will decide on extending the holiday based on the situation. 

The Regional Meteorological Center in Chennai said that the wind speed would be between the range of 120-130 kilometers per hour when the cyclone makes landfall and the wind speed may exceed up to 145 kilometers per hour. The Center has altered that Nivar would make landfall as the extreme cyclonic storm on Wednesday and the coastal districts would be receiving heavy to extremely heavy rainfall during the landfall. 

The public transports have been suspended in seven districts -Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Nagappattinam, Thiruvarur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, and Chengalpattu from Tuesday owing to the cyclone. The government said that the public transports won't be resumed until further orders and the Chief Minister had appealed to the public to stock up the necessary and essential items including dairies and groceries. 

On Tuesday, Southern Railways had canceled the suburban train services in Chennai from 10 am on Wednesday until further orders. The Cyclone had already started disrupting the lives in the state with many districts including Chennai have been witnessing heavy rainfall. The streets and roads of the city have been inundated, causing major disturbances in the movements of vehicles.  

The Southern Railways had also canceled some of the trains connecting the coastal districts. According to the meteorological department, Cyclone Nivar currently stands at a distance of 430 kilometers from the shore, and in the next 12 hours, it will emerge as the extremely heavy cyclonic activity during which it will make landfall. The department has warned that the cyclone has been getting intensified as it approaches the shore and it was feared that the state could face large scale damages. 

The Tamil Nadu government has alerted every district administration to take precautionary measures to tackle the cyclone and the government has also deployed teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams to carry out relief operations. The state government has also warned the fishermen not to venture into the sea until Wednesday and called the fishermen who are already on the sea to return to the coast. On Monday, Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had chaired the cabinet meeting in Chennai to review the preparedness to tackle the cyclone.

Chennai city has been bracing up to meet the ordeals and challenges brought by the cyclone with being reminiscent of the 2015 floods and Cyclone Vardha in 2018. The Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation said that all precautionary measures have been taken by the civic body and the relief teams, engineers, contractors, special machinery, and 600 heavy-duty pump sets have been deployed and the Commissioner has asked people not to panic about the situation and asserted that the things are extremely under control. Chennai police commissioner Mahesh Aggarwal said that 12 disaster relief teams are ready to tackle and respond to the cyclone and to carry out the relief efforts. 

Also read: From suspending transports to barring electricity: How TN is prepared to tackle Cyclone Nivar?

 

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