IMD’s orange alert for southern districts turns to be a damp squib

Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi & Kanniykumari districts experienced mild drizzle despite orange alert issued by IMD. District Collectors prepared for "cloud burst" situation.

Even as Collectors of Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniykumari had geared-up to face ‘cloud burst’ like situation in their respective districts following the orange alert issued by the Indian Meteorological Department for Saturday, the districts experienced only mild drizzle, much to everyone’s disappointment.

 In Tirunelveli, District Collector K.P. Karthikeyan held a meeting with the senior officials of all government departments on Friday to review the preparations made across the district in the wake of the orange alert of heavy to very heavy rainfall warning given by the IMD for the district. The officials were asked to keep relief centres ready with all basic amenities like drinking water, first-aid, generators, toilet facilities, food etc. The officials were asked to monitor closely the low-lying areas and the areas close to the Tamirabharani River and evacuate the people to the nearby relief centres as quickly as possible.

 Motors in sufficient numbers were kept ready to pump out the stagnant rainwater. Special teams were formed to monitor the coastal villages as the IMD had specifically warned that the coastal areas would get very heavy rainfall.

 Dr. Karthikeyan, who reviewed the preparations again on Saturday morning even though there was no showers in the early morning, issued a statement cautioning the public against taking bath in the Tamirabharani in the wake of the heavy to very heavy rainfall prediction by the IMD. Cattle should be kept in the houses and the public should not cross any submerged roads, bridges and culverts as heavy water current could wash away anything in its way. Since power cuts will have to be enforced in a few areas during heavy downpour, the public should take make proper arrangements to assuage the situation.

 Moreover, the Collector also shared with the public the toll-free numbers like 1077 and 1070 for registering the rain-related complaints, 101 and 112 for alerting the fire station for rescue operations, 104 for clearing the doubts on rain-related diseases and 108 for medical emergency. The public were also asked to register their power supply related complaints with ‘Minnagam’, the State-level power supply helpdesk at 94987 94987.

 However, the district that remained only cloudy since morning, had mild drizzle after 10 a.m. which stopped completely after 11.15 a.m. Even the Western Ghats and the catchment areas of the Papanasam and Manimuthar Dams did not experience any rainfall on Saturday.

 “In fact, the influx of water into these dams dwindled on Saturday when compared to the inflow on Friday,” said a Public Works Department official.