india

Updated: Nov 14, 2018 16:17 IST

With eight national disaster response force teams and seven squads from the state counterparts, Tamil Nadu is all geared up to face the onslaught of cyclone ‘Gaja’, expected to make landfall on its coast down south, state minister R B Udhayakumar said.

The cyclone lay centred at 690 km east-northeast of Chennai and 790 km east-northeast of Nagapattinam in the Bay of Bengal, and is set to cross the state between Cuddalore and Pamban near Rameswaram, S Balachandran, regional director, IMD, said on Tuesday.

“With increasing velocity of the wind speed, it will intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours and move west-south-westwards. The cyclone is likely to weaken on November 15 while making the landfall,” he told reporters.

As a consequence, Karaikal in Puducherry and the coastal districts of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu would receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday.

“During the cyclone landfall, wind speed would be from 90-100 mph to 110 kmph,” Balachandran said, adding that the sea would be rough to very rough along and off in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh.

“The tides will rise one feet higher than normal and it would cause inundation in Nagapattinam, Karaikal, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur and Ramanathapuram districts. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea between November 14 and November 16,” he said.

Speaking about Chennai, he said the metro would be spared from the onslaught of the cyclone though it would bring isolated rainfall.

The IMD’s bulletin also warned that the gale winds and rain could damage huts, rooftops and power and communication lines besides uprooting trees and causing havoc to paddy fields and other crops as well as orchards.

Tamil Nadu revenue minister R B Udhayakumar has said that the state government has taken all precautionary measures.

“Eight National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and seven squads of the state disaster response force have been dispatched to Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin districts. Besides setting up a 24-hour control room in Chennai, we have directed the district collectors to form rescue teams. Cyclone management committees have been formed in all the 2,559 vulnerable places. 410 zonal teams are also in place. Further, 22,495 people are ready to engage in rescue works,” Udhayakumar told reporters.

In addition, 368 mobile medical teams, 315 veterinary medical teams, motor pumps, swimmers, snake catchers are also ready to render timely assistance.

Amid these, the Union water resources department has advised the Tamil Nadu government to monitor all the dams to prevent any calamity in view of the prediction of a heavy rainfall.