The otherwise calm Agnitheertham sea in front of the Sri Ramanathaswamy temple and Dhanushkodi turned rough on Thursday, thanks to ‘Ockhi’ the cyclonic storm, which lay off Kanniyakumari but rains continued to play truant in this arid district.
As the sea became rough at Agnitheertham sea, pilgrims were restrained from taking holy bath in the sea. The temple authorities and police allowed the pilgrims only to sprinkle water on their heads and body. The sea also turned rough at Mukuntharayar Chathiram.
Fishermen refrained from venturing into the sea for fishing for the second day on Thursday.
The cyclone warning signal continued to be at stage 3 at Pamban and the meteorological office has asked fishermen not to venture into the sea for the next 48 hours.
Though the weather office had predicted heavy rains in the district from Wednesday night, the district did not receive any rain on Wednesday night and Thursday. Except Paramakudi and the coastal Thondi, which received four cm rainfall each on Wednesday night, there was no rain in rest of the district. The skies remained overcast.
Meanwhile, Collector S. Natarajan said the district administration was fully prepared to undertake relief and rescue operations in the event of the cyclonic storm hitting the coastal district. “We are fully geared to evacuate people in the coastal and low lying areas in case of emergency,” he said.
He said Revenue secretary B. Chandramohan, who is the monitoring officer for the district, is arriving here on Friday to take stock of the situation and review the preparedness for relief operations.
