The cyclonic depression may have crossed the Tamil Nadu coast on Thursday evening, but the state continues to be battered by heavy rains.
Stepping up their protest against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, anti-nuclear activists have now decided to go in for 'jal satyagraha' throughout the Tamil Nadu coast on September 22.
Teams of the NDRF have reached several places in Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the two states brace themselves for cyclone Burevi.
The boat was spotted off the Mumbai coast during patrolling on Tuesday morning, a police official said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday issued a warning of significant rainfall in Kerala due to cyclone Fengal, currently positioned as a strong low-pressure area over northern Tamil Nadu.
There were no reports of loss of life due to the cyclone which uprooted trees. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from some parts of Tamil Nadu, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar said.
The IMD has issued a red-colour coded warning for the southern areas of Tamil Nadu Kerala in view of the brewing storm and said that these areas are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Thursday sought Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's personal intervention for a firm action to put an end to Sri Lankan navy's firing on Indian fishermen.
With tears in their eyes, family members on Saturday remembered those swallowed by the deadly tsunami on the Tamil Nadu coast five years ago that left over 8000 dead. Candlelight processions and ceremonies to offer prayers to the deceased were held all over the state. The giant waves triggered by undersea tremors in Indonesia had caused the tsunami, one of India's biggest post-Independence natural calamities, in terms of the number of lives lost and the magnitude of disaster.
The operation was jointly carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) off Agatti coast in Lakshadweep, sources told PTI.
The met department said rainfall is very likely at most places in Tamil Nadu, Puduchery and Karaikal with heavy to very heavy showers at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places on Wednesday.
While there was a brief respite from the incessant downpour on Tuesday, collaborative efforts from the defence, national, and state disaster response forces took the lead in executing rescue and relief operations.
The rains after arriving over Kerala will quickly cover Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, but then might slacken a bit, which could delay its arrival over Northwest India.
Vigilance along the southern coast of Tamil Nadu has been stepped up by the state police in collaboration with other security agencies to prevent possible infiltration of LTTE cadres in the wake of the fall of the outfit's de facto capital Kilinochchi in Sri Lanka.
Relatively a lesser degree of damage, including those to houses marked the landfall of cyclonic storm Mandous in Tamil Nadu and at least four people were killed in rain-related incidents, authorities said in Chennai on Saturday.
Shipping ministry officials said a new alignment for the canal would require fresh geological studies like soil testing, wave and sedimentation testing and, most importantly, an environmental impact assessment.
The cyclone is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday, a home ministry statement said.
In another feat, Lt Jamyang Tsewang, the first commissioned naval officer from Ladakh, also successfully graduated as a qualified helicopter pilot, according to the Indian Navy.
Announcing the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decision, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said a Special Purpose Vehicle would be set up for the project.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
Four fishermen from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district were allegedly attacked by Sri Lankan Navy personnel with wooden logs while they were fishing off Kodiakarai coast in a mechanised boat, official sources said on Thursday. The fishermen, who went for fishing on Wednesday, returned on Thursday morning. They have been admitted to a government hospital with injuries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday embark on a near two-day meditation exercise at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, and the district has come under a thick security blanket following the high profile event.
The satellite picture of Cyclone Baaz, which is expected to strike the Andhra-Tamil Nadu coast.
A Rs 7,056 crore outer harbour project by VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port in Tuticorin is garnering interest from domestic and global majors in the sector, such as Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Singapore's PSA International, Dutch major Van Oord, JM Baxi, and JSW, among others, according to sources close to the development. The project aims to capitalise on the newfound investor interest in the region, spurred by mega investments such as the Rs 16,000 crore electric vehicle manufacturing unit by Vietnamese major VinFast, the Indian Space Research Organisation's second spaceport in Tamil Nadu's Kulasekarapattinam, and Singapore's Sembcorp's Rs 36,238 crore investment in renewable energy.
A group of 10 people, including women and children, arrived after getting stranded at fourth island here but were rescued and brought to the shore by the Indian Coast Guard.
Heavy rainfall is expected at isolated places in north Lakshadweep during the next 12 hours.
The depression formed over Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea would turn into a cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours and reach near the Gujarat coast on the morning of May 18, officials said.
Several major cyclones have hit various parts of India over the last 10 years. Here is a look at the notable among them.
A court in Mumbai on Saturday granted bail to three men arrested by the city police earlier this month for allegedly entering India unlawfully on a boat from Kuwait.
The American ship, detained by Coast Guard for carrying arms and ammunition off Tamil Nadu coast, may escape action if it is established that the vessel was cruising beyond Indian territorial waters, a top official said.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
Several persons fainted and emergency workers carried them in stretches and provided care in shelters. Over 30 people were rushed to nearby government hospitals with symptoms of dehydration.
The IMD had initially predicted that Cyclone Nivar was likely to intensify into a 'severe cyclonic storm' but has now estimated that it will intensify further.
'Due to severe rains and heavy cross winds, arrivals at #AAI Chennai Airport will remain suspended from 1315 hrs to 1800 hrs, today. Departures will continue. The decision has been taken considering the safety aspect of passengers and severity of wind,' the Chennai Airport tweeted.
Three men, originally from Tamil Nadu, arrested by the Mumbai Police started their boat journey from Kuwait on January 28 and claimed to have taken the Saudi Arabia-Dubai-Pakistan route before entering Indian shores illegally, as per the police remand note.
Commercial ships with armed men on board, which navigate along India's territorial waters, pose a threat to the country's security, a senior Coast Guard official said on Thursday.
