Cyclone Fengal: Officials ask people to stay indoors as cyclone to make landfall near Puducherry, IMD issues red alert

Officials here have asked the residents to stay indoors in view of cyclonic storm Fengal’s likely landfall near Puducherry on Saturday afternoon.

All schools and colleges here will remain closed on Saturday, they said.

The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall close to Puducherry with wind speeds up to 90 kmph, the India Meteorological Department said on Friday.

District Collector A Kulothungan held discussions with the officials of PWD, local administration, police and other line departments and reviewed the situation. The Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has set up toll-free numbers 112 and 1077 to receive distress calls from the public. People can also seek help through the WhatsApp number 9488981070.

Meanwhile, complying with an advisory, 4,153 boats have returned to the shore and 2,229 relief camps are ready for use if needed, the state government said.

As of now, a total of 471 people belonging to 164 families have been accommodated in six relief centres in Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts.

Boats, generators, motor pumps and all other necessary machinery and equipment are ready in districts and NDRF and state teams have been deployed wherever needed, including Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Tiruvarur, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Chengelpet and Chennai.

Senior officials assigned to supervise and coordinate related tasks with district authorities are stationed in their respective districts.