Cyclone Mandous formed over the Bay of Bengal would bring the third spell of rains in the state of Tamil Nadu. Now, the state is getting ready to face cyclone Mandous.
On 9th and 10th December, the cyclonic storm is expected to be severe in TN and there would be intense rains along with strong winds.
It is superb to note that the radars and satellites that would predict the weather conditions in TN have been improvised in the last 10 years. This was according to some weather officials. To cover the weather data in TN, there are 4 radars that function 24 hours non stop for 7 days in a week. There has been a reduction in the number of deaths due to natural calamities and this was possible by radar prediction.
At the Port Trust and at Pallikaranai in Chennai, 2 radars have been installed. In addition to these, 2 radars have been installed at Karaikal and at Sriharikota which is 120kms from Chennai.
According to Mr. S. Balachandran, deputy director general of meteorology, RMC, Chennai, in the last decade there has been much advancement made in the equipment used to forecast weather. He spoke about the increase in the observation networks plus cyclone prediction models etc. Point is that tes emodels are centralised and they belong to IMD.
The coastal areas witnessed strong winds around 30kmph to 40kmph as the low prressure area or LPA strengthened into a depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal. It must be noted that when the system intensies into a cyclone then the gusty winds would reach speeds of 60kmph to 80kmph. As the cyclone would be nearing the TN coastal region, weather dept has issued warnings to the government departments ahead of very heavy rains on 9th and 10th December.
Mr. P. Senthamarai Kannan, RMC, Chennai explained that the state of TN would be affected badly due to the cyclone. He hinted that the winds and rains would be very heavy on 9th and 10th December. Point is that when the system is away from the coastal area then the impact would be more. The intensity would reduce when the cyclone interacts with the land.
In this scenario, GCC has been taking many efforts to tackle the cyclone and its impact. The GCC Commissioner Mr. Gagandeep Singh Bedi spoke about how he has given instructions to the zonal officers to keep the machinery ready and take precautionary measures. He added that the pumps must be present in all the water stagnating locations in Chennai with sufficient manpower etc.
The availability of fuel and food requirements would be ensured in advance by the zonal officers. It is learnt that atleast 50 tractor pumps would be kept ready at the required places and the help of the mechanical dept would be taken. At the zonal control room, the officers and staff availability must work round the clock with duty charts.
In association with the Revenue dept officers, all the unauthorised hoardings present must be removed. Not only that, all tree pruning machines must be used to full capacity whenever necessary. Regarding the safety of pillar boxes, cables and overhead power lines etc, electrical dept officers of GCC must associate with the Tangedco officers. The medical team would be kept ready and this would be ensured by the zonal officers.
At the strategic lococations in the city, boats hired would be deployed. Locations in each zone must be identified by the officers to dump the fallen tree branches. Point to be noted is TN has received minimal rains in November in this NE monsoon season when compared to the previous season.
