CHENNAI: Two days after issuing a red alert for Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry on October 7, with a forecast of “heavy to very heavy rain ,” the India Meteorological Department on Saturday withdrew it saying the low pressure in the Arabian Sea, that had triggered the warning, had not gained strength to become a cyclone.“However, places like Coimbatore, Nilgiris , Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari may receive heavy to very heavy rain, instead of extremely heavy rainfall in the next 24-48 hours,” said IMD deputy director S Balachandran. The revised forecast said other districts would experience moderate rain and Chennai would remain cloudy with possibility of rain.“Fishermen in the central and south east Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kanyakumari areas are advised not to venture into the sea from October 6 to 8,” he said.The sky condition is likely to be generally cloudy. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers is likely to occur in some areas. In Chennai and surrounding areas, the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 33 degrees C and 25 degrees C.In the last 24 hours ending 8.30am on Saturday, Karaikal near Puducherry recorded the maximum rainfall of 12cm followed by Villupuram with 9cm. Chennai city recorded 3.3 cm of rainfall during this period.Compared to last year, however, the situation with regard to rainfall has been encouraging, say officials. Since October 1 to 6, Tamil Nadu has received 68.7mm of rainfall against the normal of 29.1mm for the period. In terms of percentage, the state has 136% more rainfall in this period. Except Salem in the western region, all other districts in the state have experienced surplus rainfall.Meanwhile, personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Madurai following the heavy rainfall warning issued by the IMD. Entry of pilgrims from Rameswaram into coastal Dhanushkodi was also barred as a precautionary measure, the officials added.