On this Special Report, India Today’s Pramod Madhav tracks Cyclone Ditwah as it moves parallel to the Tamil Nadu coast. The storm has brought heavy rainfall to Nagapattinam and Myladurai districts, with some areas receiving 220 mm of rain. While the cyclone is not expected to make landfall, it has triggered red alerts across southern India. 'This is the present situation at Marina Beach as we speak,' Madhav reports, highlighting the rough seas and warnings for fishermen. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 28 teams and sniffer dogs to assist in relief operations.
00:00And speaking of this very cyclone, let's also take you through the latest updates coming in.
00:04Cyclone Dithwa steadily heading towards the Indian coast as the cyclone approaches heavy ruins
00:08and strong winds lashed parts of Tamil Nadu and Puduchiri.
00:12Now, the cyclonic storm moving north-north-westwards over the southwest Bay of Bengal,
00:16soon reaching the coasts of northern Tamil Nadu and Puduchiri as well,
00:19and as well as adjoining southern Andhra Pradesh.
00:22Multiple districts across southern India remain under red alert.
00:25Residents have in fact been asked to stay indoors, avoid coastal areas,
00:28and follow instructions from district authorities.
00:31Fishermen have been strictly warned to not be venturing into the sea at this point.
00:35Tamil Nadu is expected to be the worst affected.
00:38But right now, let us also tell you, these viewers, that the cyclonic warnings that had come in,
00:43they have now, in fact, they have not been completely called off.
00:47But yes, the cyclonic winds have started weakening in this very region.
00:51That is the very latest update that we are bringing to you.
00:53But at the same time, over 50 flights, let us tell you,
00:56had been cancelled at Chennai Airport and schools and colleges remained closed
00:59as a precautionary measure that was taken by the government in Tamil Nadu itself.
01:04The NDRF had deployed 28 teams to assist the state as the state had braced for the cyclone.
01:10But now, the situation is much steadier as the winds have also weakened as it made landfall in Tamil Nadu.
01:17In fact, for yesterday, it has brought in heavy rains to Nagapattnum and Mailadudra districts,
01:30where certain areas have also received 220 millimeters of rainfall.
01:35And it is closely moving towards Pudicherry and Chennai.
01:38In fact, it is 160 kilometers away from Pudicherry and 220 kilometers away from Chennai.
01:46It is slowly moving.
01:47The pace is close to 10 kilometers per hour speed.
01:51And because of fish, there is a chance of good amount of rainfall.
01:54This is a present situation at Marina Beach as we speak.
01:57And the important aspect here is that for the day also, warnings have been issued to fishermen not to venture into the sea because rough seas are expected.
02:06And not just that, the most important aspect is that the Tamil Nadu government has also requested people to stay indoors as a precautionary.
02:14As this cyclone, Ditwa, is moving towards Chennai, we've been also told that there are chances of it pulling once again rain clouds,
02:21because of which we could get heavy rainfall for the day as well.
02:24And this is why such precautions have been taken.
02:27NDRF has also, through text messages, have requested people who are in low-lying areas to move to safety locations.
02:34And people who are in houses that are very old or in like not that strong to also move to safety locations.
02:42For the day, Chennai is expected to receive once again good amount of rainfall.
02:46However, cyclone Ditwa is not expected for now to make a landfall, but only to travel parallelly across the coast of Tamil Nadu, the northern part,
02:57and then travel parallelly towards the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh.
03:01Devraj, Pramod Madhav for India today.
03:04Continuous rainfall, normally the disaster which is related to this, one is a flood-like situation,
03:10which we tackle through using inflatable rubber boats, on-board motors with life jackets and rope rescue items.
03:16The other thing which comes to, which comes as part of this continuous rainfall is the collapse structure of any old buildings.
03:24So, we have well-trained sniffer docks.
03:27Sniffer docks are deployed in Pondicherry, in Pudukotai.
03:31Also, the butter lanes which have been airlifters from Pune and Baroda, they also have sniffer docks.
03:35These sniffer docks are trained in such a way that they can detect any buried live person in a collapse structure.
03:41So, our teams are also prepared for such kind of a scenario.
03:43The cyclone Ditwa is around 160 km away from Puducherry.
03:48We are at the Gandhi Beach here in Puducherry.
03:50And as you can see, it's raining heavily here since the last 1 hour or so.
03:53In fact, it was raining yesterday also in Puducherry.
03:56But today, in the morning, we witnessed light to moderate rainfall.
04:01But since the last 1 hour or so, it's been raining heavily.
04:03And that's what is anticipated for Puducherry in the next few hours.
04:06And also in the evening, as the cyclone nears, the cyclone has already started weakening, is what we are understanding.
04:13So, we are not expecting a major, you know, destruction or major issue that the cyclone will bring.
04:20But still, advisory have been issued to people to ensure that they are safe.
04:26The administration have advised locals and tourists especially to stay indoors as much as possible till the situation is under control.
04:32Yesterday, the chief minister took stock of the situation.
04:36He went around and took stock of the situation, advised people to stay indoors, especially people living closer to the coastal regions.
04:42The shops and factories were shut down earlier itself.
04:46The night shifts were asked to be cancelled so that nobody has to be out during the night time.
04:50That's a very risky time to be out in the public.
04:55So, that's one of the reasons.
04:56And the shops were also closed by 8 p.m.
04:58So, today also, certain restrictions are in place because still evening is when the IMD is saying that it's going to rain in Puducherry.
05:05With video journalist Daniel, this is Shibhimul K.G. for India Today from Puducherry.
05:09Heavy rain in Puducherry, as well as in Karakal, we take so many measures for our people, those who are affected in the heavy rain.
05:21Food and the shelters are already opened.
05:24In Karakal, food and other measures also taken there.
05:30What is the situation right now and is there any issue reported to you so far?
05:35I think, I think, so far, no far issues here.
05:41Just to give you the rain, the rain is moving on.
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