The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a public holiday on Wednesday as Cyclone Nivar is expected to make landfall on November 25 between Mamallapuram and Karaikal. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu also requested the public across the state to stay at home and to follow the guidelines provided by the government.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said, “People should be safe and stay at home. We have cancelled bus services in seven districts for the safety of the public. Not only this, the state will have a public holiday on Wednesday. Government offices will also stay closed since extremely heavy rainfall is predicted.”
“People working for essential services will alone report for duty. The decision on extending the leave will be taken based on the scenario after the cyclone. The government has provided directions to set up relief camps and provide essentials including milk powder for children,” he said.
The Chief Minister was holding a review meeting at Ezhilagam in Chennai on Wednesday.
The Tamil Nadu government has also cancelled 24 train services from Egmore to the southern parts of the state. The suburban train services have been partially cancelled since 3pm on Tuesday until 10 am on Wednesday. From 10 am on Wednesday, suburban train services have been fully cancelled until further notice.
The announcement by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister comes a day after he issued a statement requesting the public to stay indoors and cancelling bus services in seven districts. The bus services are cancelled in Pudukkottai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvaru, Cuddalore, Vizhupuram and Chengalpattu from 1 pm of November 24. The public was also instructed to use their own vehicles to travel for essentials.
The Chief Minister also advised people to safeguard Aadhaar ID, driving license, Voters ID, bank passbook, school certificate and property documents by storing them in areas that will remain unaffected by a flood-like situation. He also told people to stock essentials including candles, batteries and matchboxes.