Rain lashes Tamil Nadu, holiday declared for schools, colleges in many districts

Rain lashed several parts of Tamil Nadu today, and the India Meteorological Department said the depression over Bay of Bengal was likely to intensify into a deep depression.
In the early hours, in view of the heavy rain forecast, district administrations declared Tuesday as a holiday for schools and colleges in Cauvery delta districts of Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvarur, and Karaikal in Puducherry.
In Thanjavur district, only schools were declared closed today.
Chennai and nearby districts of Chengalpet, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur, the northern coastal city of Cuddalore and Cauvery delta areas, including Thiruvarur and Mannargudi were among the places that received rainfall in the mild to moderate range.
Due to the rains, traffic flow was affected and roads were covered under sheets of water.
Precautionary measures were taken by the Tamil Nadu government and district collectors were advised to take necessary precautions. People living in low-lying areas were requested to move to safer locations.
A Regional Meteorological Centre weather update stated: “It is likely to move nearly north-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression during the next 12 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to move north-northwestwards towards Sri Lanka-Tamil Nadu coasts during subsequent 2 days.”
In the wake of a heavy rainfall warning for Delta districts, fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea, and 1,192 boats returned to the shore. Warnings were also issued for fishermen who were in the deep sea to return to the nearest ports.
Monitoring officers for Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai and Thiruvarur were moved to the respective districts to carry out the rescue and relief work in coordination with the district administration. Special attention was provisioned for pregnant women, elderly, differently abled and children.
Agricultural workers and those planning to travel were also requested to make their plans accordingly in view of the latest alert. In Trichy and Dindigul, six teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed and two National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been placed in Chennai and Tirunelveli. Apart from these, nine teams of SDRF and 13 teams of NDRF were kept on standby.
Following are the helpline numbers for the areas:
Nagapattinam – 1077, 1800 233 4233, 84386 69800
Mayiladuthurai – 1077, 04364-222588
Thiruvarur – 1077, 94885 47941
Cuddalore – 1077, 94899 30520