Heavy rain prompts Puducherry authorities to shut schools, colleges

Heavy rains lashed most parts of Puducherry on Dec 3 prompting authorities to announce a holiday for all government and private schools as well as colleges for the day.

Cyclone Fengal made a landfall between Puducherry and neighboring Tamil Nadu on Nov 30 causing torrential downpours in the union territory since then.

The Army stepped in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets in the union territory. Parts of Tamil Nadu also suffered due to heavy rains and inundation, officials were quoted as saying.

Cyclone aftermath

According to the latest update by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the remnant of the cyclonic storm over north coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry moved nearly westwards and weakened into a ‘Well Marked Low-Pressure Area’ at 5:30 am on Dec 2.

The remnant low-pressure area is likely to emerge over southeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea off north Kerala-Karnataka coasts around Dec 3, IMD said.

Meanwhile, the Puducherry government on Dec 2 said the union territory received unexpected rainfall. The government announced relief assistance of ₹5,000 each to all ration cardholders affected by the cyclone.

"Due to cyclone Fengal, Puducherry received 48 % rainfall, which was unexpected. The Puducherry government has decided to provide relief assistance of ₹5,000 to all ration cardholders affected by the cyclone," Chief Minister N Rangaswamy told reporters.

Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has carried out rescue operations in Puducherry. Among the most affected in Puducherry were the areas around Sankaraparani River, where over 200 residences in NR Nagar were inundated, necessitating a rescue operation led by the Indian Army along with the NDRF.