The Tableaux proposed by Tamil Nadu and rejected in the third round by the Central government for the National Republic Day parade was used by the state government at Chennai parade during the 73rd Republic Day celebrations…reports Asian Lite News
The tableaux titled ‘Tamil Nadu in Freedom Struggle’ depicting V.O. Chidambaranar, ‘Mahakavi’ Subramania Bharathi, Rani Velu Nachiyar, and the Maruthu Pandiyar brothers who were executed by the East India Company were used in the Republic day parade in Chennai.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had earlier said that these tableaux will be displayed during the Tamil Nadu Republic Day parade and after this will be taken across the state to showcase to the people about the freedom fighters of the state.
Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi on Wednesday unfurled the national flag near the Gandhi square on Kamarajar salai in Chennai in the presence of Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin on the occasion of the 73rd Republic day celebrations in the state.
About 6,800 police personnel are on duty as part of the security and are deployed in various parts of Chennai city on the occasion.
Due to the surge in Covid cases, the general public has not been given entry to the Republic day functions at the Gandhi square. Parades by school and college students are also not taking place due to Covid.
The minister added that the state government has already mobilised 1.05 lakh volunteers including swimmers, snake catchers, and tree cutters for rescue and relief operations….reports Asian Lite News
Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran has said that 12 people have died in various parts of the state due to heavy rain in the past three days. He said that 11 companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 7 companies of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the rain-affected areas.
The minister told IANS on Wednesday: “The government is ready to face any eventuality due to rain and has already deployed 11 teams of NDRF in various parts of Chennai and adjoining districts while 7 companies of the State Disaster Response Force are ready to join the operations. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea following the IMD alert for the next three days and all 33,773 boats that were in the sea off Tamil Nadu coast are back home and no boat is in the sea now.”
The minister added that the state government has already mobilised 1.05 lakh volunteers including swimmers, snake catchers, and tree cutters for rescue and relief operations. Senior IAS and IPS officers have been deputed to monitor the functioning of district collectors and district superintendents of police.
He said that 12 IPS officers have been posted in Chennai for coordination and 15 IAS officers for each of the zones of Greater Chennai Corporation.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in Chennai and adjoining districts for Thursday. The red alert is an indication that heavy to very heavy rain would lash the city and adjoining areas on Thursday.
The IMD in a statement on Wednesday said that a low-pressure system over the Bay would intensify into a deep depression and reach North Tamil Nadu coast by November 11. The red alert, according to IMD, is applicable to several coastal districts of the state as extremely heavy rain (200mm) is likely in the coastal areas of the state.
The IMD regional centre said that the well-marked low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to concentrate into a depression in the next 12 hours. This depression would move northwestwards and reach Northern Tamil Nadu by the early morning of November 11 leading to heavy showers in the area.
Heavy rain continues to lash Chennai
Heavy rain continued to lash Chennai on Thursday morning since the previous night due to the depression over southwest Bay of Bengal, which according to the IMD is expected to cross northern Tamil Nadu and the adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by the evening.
As a result, several homes in the city have been inundated, while the power supply has been cut off in many localities.
According to the weather department, the depression over southwest Bay of Bengal is currently about 170 km east-southeast of Chennai and 170 km east of Puducherry.
It continues to move west-northwestwards.
Localities like T.Nagar, Mylapore, Velacherry, Adyar, Ekkattuthangal and others are waterlogged.
While the Greater Chennai Corporation is pumping out water with motors, the water level remains the same.
“Wind is also blowing and the possibility of trees getting uprooted is also one of the fears,” a milk supply boy said.
Several subways have been closed for traffic as they are filled with water.
According to Chennai Airport, flight operations are continuing as per schedule.
Suburban train services from Chennai to Tiruvallur have been suspended due to waterlogging on the tracks and in other routes the services were delayed.
According to the Railways, in the case of long distance trains, only marginal delays can be expected in arrivals and departures, especially for those trains going towards and coming from Arakkonam and Gudur.
Eight flights cancelled in Chennai
Eight flights have been cancelled due to bad weather in Chennai airport, officials said on Wednesday.
Four arrivals and four departures have been cancelled after the Met Department predicted heavy rains and gusty winds in Chennai and adjoining districts.
Indigo Airlines flights to Madurai (4.10 p.m.), Mumbai (7.55 p.m.), Trichy (7.55 p.m.) were the domestic flights from Chennai that stand cancelled. An international flight operated by Air Arabia to Sharjah, scheduled to depart at 9.30 p.m., was also cancelled.
Indigo flights from Madurai at 7.30 p.m., Trichy at 10.30 p.m., Mumbai at 1 a.m. on Thursday and an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah to Chennai were also cancelled.
The Airport Authority of India, in a statement, said that the decision to cancel the flights, all operated on ATR aircraft, was taken based on the weather forecast as the small ATR aircraft will have difficulty in landing due to windy conditions.
Heavy rains send vegetable prices soaring
Heavy rains and waterlogging across Chennai have sent vegetable prices soaring in the wholesale Koyambedu market, while prices in the retail vegetable markets too have catapulted.
Tomatoes were priced at Rs 100 per kg, lady’s finger touched the Rs 150 per kg mark, while beans were being sold for Rs 100 per kg in Chennai’s retail markets after heavy rains led to soaring prices of vegetables in the wholesale Koyambedu market.
Almost all the vegetables that were selling at less than Rs 25 per kg are selling for more than Rs 50 per kg now. Carrot is selling at Rs 130 per kg, while capsicum is priced at Rs 120 per kg.
M.K. Abdullah, a wholesale merchant at the Koyamdedu market, said, “The heavy rains that lashed Chennai city have led to a spiralling process. Even locally-grown vegetables have become costlier as there is shortage of labour and most of the crops are under water. Most of the local supply comes from within 100 km radius of Chennai city and vegetables that reach from Karnataka are not expected as trucks are not moving in due to waterlogging in many parts of the city.”
The passenger also alleged that the room where the passengers are made to stand in queue is a tiny one where no Covid protocols are followed….reports Asian Lite News
International travellers from Europe, the US and the Middle East, who are landing at the Chennai international airport, have to wait for hours in long queues to get their swab samples tested.
Even for passengers who are reaching the country after taking two doses of vaccine are not exempted from swab test in Chennai. The passengers complain that they have to stand in two queues, one to make the payment and the second for the swab sample.
Mohammed Aslam, a passenger who reached Chennai on Tuesday from Europe, told IANS, “I had to wait for more than two hours in the queue. One queue is to make payment for RT-PCR test and the second one is for giving the swab.”
The passenger also alleged that the room where the passengers are made to stand in queue is a tiny one where no Covid protocols are followed.
At the Chennai international airport, at least five flights are arriving daily from abroad, leading to large queues.
Swab test done by the Chennai Corporation as there is a gradual increase in the COVID positive cases in Tamilnadu
While other airports like in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi have adequate space, the Chennai airport does not have proper space for the passengers to stand in queue.
Basheer from the air travel agents’ association told IANS, “The solution is to increase the number of counters. While there are four counters at the Chennai airport, these are not enough to cater to the large flow of passengers to the airport. The number of passengers arriving from Europe is also more and hence the queues are also long. We got information that the Airport Authority of India will take effective measures to solve the issue.”
Officials in the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said that there are around 20 staff members who collect swab samples from the passengers. The officials, however, said that crowd control is in place and that the department would look into the complaints, if any.
The AAI is also planning to increase the number of counters at the airport to ensure smooth exit for the passengers.
The Coast Guard said that it had received information from the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo late on Wednesday about a mid sea oil spill about 450 km southeast of Chennai…reports Asian Lite News.
The Indian Coast Guard said on Thursday that 10 kilolitres (KL) of oil have spilled into the sea about 450 km southeast of Chennai from a Portuguese flag container ship named MV Devon.
The vessel was on passage from Colombo to Haldia in West Bengal, carrying 10,795 tonnes of general cargo in 382 containers, manned by 17 crew of mixed nationality.
The Coast Guard said that it had received information from the Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Colombo late on Wednesday about a mid sea oil spill about 450 km southeast of Chennai.
“The ICG is in continuous contact with MV Devon and the master has reported that the vessel is stable. ICG pollution response team at Chennai has been alerted and kept on standby. In addition, ICG ships and aircraft deployed at sea are also put on alert in pollution response configuration,” the ministry of defence said. On investigation, it was found that MV Devon had developed an underwater crack on the left side of the fuel tank containing about 120 KL of Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO).
The crack resulted in spillage of about 10 KL of oil into the sea before preventive action was taken and the remaining oil in the tank was transferred to another tank by the ship’s crew.
The container carrier is expected to reach Haldia on Friday and as per the ship’s master, the vessel is stable, the Coast Guard said.
ICG saves crew of sinking ship In a daredevil operation, the Indian Coast Guard rescued 16 crew members of a sinking cargo ship near the Revdanda jetty off Maharashtra’s Raigad district, an ICG spokesperson said here.
The incident happened in the early hours when Indian-flagged M.V. Mangalam’s second officer intimated that the ship, with 16 on board, had partially sunk around 3 kms off the Revdanda jetty in the stormy Arabian Sea.
In view of the distress and with water ingress panicking the crew, the ship captain was even planning to abandon the vessel, the ICG was told.
Gauging the seriousness of the situation, the ICG’s MRCC team calmed down the alarmed captain and crew and asked them to remain on board as help was being deployed.
ICG Subhadra Kumari Chauhan immediately set sail from Dighi Port towards the sinking vessel, while two ICG helicopters took from Daman for the evacuation operation.
The ship reached the vicinity of M.V. Mangalam by 10.15 a.m. as challenging weather conditions prevailed, but it sent rescue boats to pick up the crew.
Around that time, the two helicopters also arrived and started winching up the crew of vessel, saving all 16, and flew them to Revdanda for medical aid, said the ICG spokesperson.
