Cyclone Nivar: Tamil Nadu declares public holiday on Nov 25, Sec 144 in Puducherry; more details here

Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday declared a statewide public holiday on November 25, Wednesday, in view of cyclone Nivar. All schools- public and private- have been shut until further notice.

Meanwhile, Section 144, prohibiting the assembly of more than four people, will be put in Puducherry, beginning Tuesday night and will continue till the morning of November 26, Puducherry's District Magistrate informed.

"All departments are on high alert and will work in close coordination for restoring electricity, water, etc. We are working overtime to ensure that there is no loss of life," said V Narayanasamy, Chief Minister, Puducherry.

Six special trains of the Thiruvananthapuram division of the Southern Railways have been cancelled on November 25 in view of the IMD forecast of cyclonic storm Nivar.

Trains which have been cancelled are:

• Train No 02634 Kanyakumari Chennai Egmore Daily Superfast Express Special
• Train No 02633 Chennai Egmore Kanyakumari Daily Superfast Express Special
• Train No 06724 Kollam Chennai Egmore Daily (Ananthapuri) Express Special
• Train No 06723 Chennai Egmore Kollam Daily (Ananthapuri) Express Special
• Train No 06102 Kollam Chennai Egmore Express Special via Sengottai, Madurai Jn
• Train No 06101 Chennai Egmore Kollam Express Special via Madurai Jn, Sengottai

Cyclone Nivar, which was intensified into cyclonic storm formed over the south-west Bay of Bengal due to the deep depression, is nearly 50 km south-west of Chennai and is moving north-westward. It is likely to move towards the coast of Tamil Nadu and cross by Puducherry at around 5 pm on Wednesday, said RK Jenamani, Senior Scientist, India Meteorological Department.

It may intensify further, Jenamani added.

The coastal areas of Tamil Nadu are expected to receive heavy rain between November 23-26.

"Extremely heavy rainfall is expected in coastal and north interior Tamil Nadu districts on November 25. The most vulnerable zone is north Tamil Nadu districts," said Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, DG, IMD.

Puducherry has installed 'Number 7 storm warning cage' at the port areas in response to the cyclonic storm, which means the port will experience severe weather from a storm of light or moderate-intensity that is expected to cross over or near the port.

Thirty teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been pressed into action across Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry as Cyclone Nivar moves towards the southern coast of India, NDRF informed.

"Alerting community, facilitating local administration across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry," said Satya Pradhan, NDRF's Director-General said in a tweet.

Nearly 12 teams of the disaster relief body have also been deployed, while 18 are on standby across the region, closely monitoring the situation.

Moreover, a disaster rescue team of 40 people has reached in Pondicherry with the safety equipment to deal with the storm.

(With agency inputs)