By Lata Baisoya
Chennai: Cyclone Nivar killed at least three deaths, damaged 101 huts and uprooted over 380 trees, the state control room informed here today. A woman died in Marakkanam due to the cyclone, Villupuram MP D Ravikumar tweeted.
At the time of going to press, the civic authorities had managed to clear 150 tree falls in Tamil Nadu. The state authorities had also managed to provide shelter to nearly 2.5 lakh people as part of their precautionary measures. The two neighbouring states had together set up 1455 relief camps.
The efforts of the two neighbouring state governments were also backed by the deployment of warships INS Sumitra and INS Jyoti from the Southern Naval Command. The Warships were intended to act as reserves to supplement the government efforts, in case of an emergency or crisis.
The efforts were augmented by the army and coastguard teams that arranged for expeditious relief to the affected people. Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy voiced that the state government would work out insurance pay-outs and compensations to the farmers and other affected categories of people from the weaker section.
In Chennai city, many of the arterial roads including the approach ones to Marina beach and the highway adjoining the beach stretch were severely water-logged prior to the cyclone, causing the police to order blocking of all traffic in these sections. Besides cautioning all citizens to stay indoors, the Chennai airport was declared closed for operations for a 12-hour stretch from 7 p.m. on Wednesday to 7 a.m. to Thursday. Interstate traffic between Puducherry and Tamil Nadu was also ground to a halt.
A total of 25 the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were deployed on the likely affected coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Andhra Pradesh after consultation with state authorities. Out of these 15 teams have been deployed at costal districts of Tamil Nadu including 06 teams at district Cuddalore, 03 teams at Viluppuram, 02 teams each at Chennai and Chengalpattu while 01 team each at Mayiladuthrai & Nagapattinam districts.
Besides, 3 teams were deployed at Puducherry (Pondicherry) and 01 team at Karaikal of the Union Territory. Moreover, to tackle the situation 3 NDRF teams also have been deployed at Nellore district and 01 team at Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh. Seeing the severity of the situation, additional 05 NDRF teams were also kept on alert at Vijayawada (AP) NDRF Base and 2 teams at Visakhapatnam for any immediate backup as per requirement. In view of the current COVID-19 scenario, NDRF teams were equipped with appropriate PPE/special kits and strictly following COVID-19 guidelines. In addition to the teams deployed by the state disaster response authorities and a total of 465 ambulances being kept in abeyance.
Cyclone ‘Nivar’ had so far caused 1.21 lakh people residing in low-lying areas to be relocated in the relief centres provided by the two neighbouring states. Besides, to clean up the mess caused by uprooted trees, the civic authorities of the respective areas in coordination with the local police have promptly swung into action.
