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.
05:43That's all.
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