Heavy rains accompanied by high velocity winds on Monday pounded Chennai and coastal districts of north Tamil Nadu due to severe cyclonic storm "Vardah" which made landfall around 3pm, uprooting hundreds of trees, disrupting land and air transport and throwing normal life out of gear.
Personnel from multiple government departments, including revenue, police, fisheries, animal husbandry and other state agencies from Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore, Salem and Thanjavur districts were being deployed to handle the situation in the cyclone-hit regions
Mylapore DCP V Balakrishnan's work in replanting uprooted trees has inspired local youth.
While flight operations have already resumed, inter-intra state train services also were partially operating since Tuesday night, they said.
Thanks to the untiring work of civic workers, most of the roads are operational. Also, power supply and Internet have been restored.
The depression over southeast Bay of Bengal in Andaman and Nicobar Islands developed into a deep depression and intensified into a cyclonic storm "Vardah."
State government announced ex gratia for kin of those who lost lives.
Recurring natural calamities along the east coast, especially Vizag and Chennai, to increase insurance premium rates in the region, reports T E Narasimhan.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar visits Pallikaranai, once a marshland and now a bustling neighbourhood. The effect of Cyclone Verdah is startling on an area that was once a water body and now has been built over.
Several major cyclones have hit various parts of India over the last 10 years. Here is a look at the notable among them.
Under its impact, rains will start on Sunday night and gradually increase on Monday in the northern districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, S Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said.
OPS has impressed Chennai residents by his astute, on the scene, handling of the Cyclone Vardah aftermath.
Tamil Nadu Cricket Association said the fifth and final Test match between India and England will start as per schedule in Chennai on December 16 at the Chepauk stadium despite the severe cyclone Vardah that lashed the Tamil Nadu capital on Monday evening.
While several banks and ATMs are providing cash far below the allowed limit every now and then due to cash shortage, the damage caused by the cyclone has dealt a further blow with movement of cash vehicles coming to a grinding halt, resulting in empty ATMs.
More than 1,600 people died due to extreme weather conditions across the country last year, with severe heat wave claiming the largest chunk of the total deaths at 40 per cent, followed by flooding and lightning.
Here is a list of previous cyclones that have struck the country.
Animal lover Virat Kohi on Thursday took some time off to mingle with the security dogs at the M A Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Thursday on the eve of the fifth and final Test against England.
The AIADMK's staying power is not in question, but it has to regain the winning streak. That will require its leaders and leadership to re-wire themselves, to be able to re-think situations in ways different from what they had been accustomed to, suggests Sathiya Moorthy.
The chief minister also put forth the demand to stop hydrocarbon extraction project in Neduvasal in Pudukkottai district that has attracted large-scale protests recently.
'I think it is my 140th game, and I have never played in a game where we haven't had nets but sometimes you have to remember what happened in the cyclone -- people lost their lives'
As the weather cleared in the morning, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Union Territory administration started a joint evacuation drive and brought back all stranded tourists to Port Blair from Havelock and Neil islands of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.
Did Jayalalithaa, who was also in jail then, know about these transactions?
The groundstaff at the Chepauk were on Wednesday seen using burning coal to dry the pitch set to be used for the fifth and final cricket Test between India and England starting December 16. Cyclone 'Vardah' that lashed the city last Monday caused considerable damage to property and the iconic stadium has also not been spared. However the square and the outfield have not been damaged. But the downpour has certainly left a lot of dampness on the 22-yard strip.
Partymen ignore the voices of dissent, Chinnamma set to be elected party chief unopposed.
Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar wants Mumbai as the reserve venue if Hyderabad Cricket Association is unable to hold the one-off India-Bangladesh Test match, starting on February 13, for any reason.
'When you enter our secretariat, you are insulting us.' 'It is the seat of government of the state of Tamil Nadu,'
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the vow taken by AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala has been fulfilled.
The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I wish him well in whatever he does and I will do so if he enters politics too.'
'More than 90 per cent of the party cadres are with OPS.'
From planting seedlings to holding feasts and shutting down 500 liquor shops, Tamil Nadu government is going all out to uphold Jayalalithaa's fame on her 69th birth anniversary.
Post Jayalalithaa's death, the Tamil Nadu government is in confused state.
K C Venugopal (Congress) charged the Modi government with providing little funds for the MGNREGA.
In private, AIADMK spokespersons say that the raid on Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao might be aimed at weakening the AIADMK, and demotivating the party from selecting/electing Jayalalithaa's confidante, Sasikala Natarajan, as her successor -- first as party head then possibly in the government, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Appointed, sponsored and nurtured' by Jayalalithaa, P Rama Mohana Rao is now seen as a man who holds the key to the secrets of ministers and bureaucrats.
India are leading the five-match series 3-0 and should they taste success in the final Test, it will be their biggest against England, the previous being the 3-0 whitewash in 1992-93 under Mohammed Azharuddin's captaincy.
Should Sasikala seek to follow Jayalalithaa's footsteps in the matter, and if at all she is not disinterested in keeping the twin posts together, the by-election to Jayalalithaa's constituency R K Nagar could be the starting point, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a major boost to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Parliament, state School Education Minister K Pandiarajan and veteran AIADMK leader and spokesman C Ponnaiyan on Saturday joined his dissident camp.
At a time when the AIADMK has chosen the late Jaya's personal aide to lead the party, M K Stalin re-enters the scene with greater credibility and better clarity of his own role in the DMK, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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