A holiday has been declared for all government and private schools in Puducherry and Karaikal on Friday and Saturday as a precautionary measure in view of the cyclone warning issued for the region by the India Meteorological Department.
The two-day holiday was declared on the direction of Education Minister A. Namassivayam, a press note from VG Sivagami, Joint Director of School Education said.
Cyclone Mandous, brewing over the South West Bay of Bengal, is tipped to cross the Chennai-Puducherry region with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph around midnight of Friday.
Meanwhile, based on the latest advisory of the Area Cyclone Warning Centre of the IMD in Chennai, the storm warning signal flag hoisted at the Puducherry Port has been upped by one level to ‘Signal Number Five’ signifying a state of potential danger as the cyclone passes through.
With heavy rain and high winds forecast for the next couple of days, the government has ramped up contingency measures to tide over the situation.
In addition to deploying three units of the National Disaster Response Force (two teams in Puducherry and one in Karaikal), the administration has set up 238 relief camps to shelter displaced families and made arrangements to provide food to an estimated 75,000 persons every day.
The administration has made arrangements to relocate people in flood-prone and vulnerable areas to safer places.
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, who had convened a review meeting on Wednesday, as chairman of the Puducherry State Disaster Management Authority, said nodal departments, such as revenue, power, police, fire services, local administration and public works, have been asked to work in a coordinated manner to deliver speedy response to people in distress.
Measures are also in place to quickly remove trees/electricity poles that crash in the gale force. Fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea.
The toll free lines 1070, 1077 will be operational in addition to the regular police and fire SOS numbers.
