Govt puts coastal dists on high alert

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh has put its southern coastal districts on high alert as Cyclone Ditwah continues to move parallel to the northern Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts, prompting warnings of heavy rainfall, strong winds, and possible flooding. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said cyclone Ditwah, positioned over the southwest Bayof Bengal, is likely to intensify rainfall across several districts of Andhra Pradesh. The system moved almost northwards during the past six hours and remained centred at latitude 11.4 degrees north and longitude 80.6 degrees east, close to the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts."Cyclone Ditwah, currently located over the southwest Bay of Bengal, is expected to significantly enhance rainfall activity across multiple districts of Andhra Pradesh," the India Meteorological Department said in a release.

The cyclone is expected to continue moving along and off the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coastline, remaining 30 to 70 km offshore and enhancing rainfall over Andhra Pradesh. North Coastal Andhra Pradesh (NCAP) and Yanam are likely to receive light to moderate rain, with thunderstorms and squally winds of 35–45 kmph, gusting to 55 kmph, during the next two days.

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers are likely at a few places on Tuesday. South Coastal Andhra Pradesh (SCAP) may witness heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rain at one or two locations through the day. Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places on Monday, followed by light to moderate rainfall on Tuesday.

Rayalaseema is also expected to receive light to moderate rain at most places on Monday, with heavy to very heavy rain at one or two locations. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning may occur at isolated spots.

Light to moderate rainfall is likely at a few places on Tuesday, the IMD added.

Squally winds of 35-45 kmph, gusting to 55 kmph, are likely over NCAP, while wind speeds may reach 50–60 kmph, gusting to 70 kmph, across parts of SCAP and Rayalaseema.

Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha reviewed the situation from the Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) centre on Sunday and instructed the district administrative units to maintain round-the-clock vigilance.

During a video conference with collectors of Nellore, Tirupati, Kadapa, Chittoor and Annamaya districts, the Minister directed officials to issue timely field-level warnings and ensure that every distress call to control rooms is addressed immediately. She stressed that preventing loss of life is the government’s foremost responsibility. Officials were told to deploy teams to vulnerable areas, clear without delay trees and hoardings that may fall during the landfall of the cyclone and restore power supply swiftly wherever outages occur due the impact of the cyclone.

District collectors informed the Minister that evacuation arrangements and rehabilitation centres were ready should conditions worsen.

Disaster Management Authority managing director Prakhar Jain said the cyclone is expected to weaken into a severe storm but will continue to bring intense rainfall. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in Nellore and Tirupati districts on Monday, accompanied by winds of 45–65 kmph along the south coast. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea.

Nellore district has recorded widespread rainfall since Saturday night, with Kavali receiving 62.5 mm till 6 pm on Sunday.