The coastal districts of Tamil Nadu, which was hit by the cyclone Nilam on Wednesday, is slowly limping back to normal.
The shipping ministry has ordered an inquiry into the oil tanker, which ran aground off the city coast due to high velocity winds.
The cyclone,which started from Sri Lanka, moved towards Tamil Nadu and then to Andhra Pradesh via Villurpuram, Vellore, Tiruvanamalai, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and coastal areas of Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Chennai. Some 150,000 people were displaced due the cyclone.
Post Wednesday afternoon, a major portion of the coastal districts came under heavy power cut. In the Delta zone in south Tamil Nadu, one of the major hubs for agricultural activities, around 250 electric poles fell down, said a government official. Crops including paddy, groundnut and maize in the coastal districts of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore, and in other parts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh reported losses.
Industry back to work
Most industrial houses, including manufacturing unit and IT sector which were closed on Wednesday, are back to work. However, schools and colleges remain closed.
Initial estimates pegged economic losses of around Rs 100 crore, which may go up, say government officials. The worst hit will be small and medium enterprises.
A senior member from the Siruseri Association of Software Companies said, “The cyclone caused losses of around Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore.”
Located 2-3 km from the East Coast, which was the crossing point for Nilam, Siruseri is a suburb of Chennai, in Kancheepuram district, around 30 km south of the city. Sipcot has developed an information technology park in 1,000 acres, the largest IT park in Asia.
Port operations back to normal
Operations at the Chennai Port was back to normal from Thursday morning. According to port officials, from 10.30 am vessels began berthing and for now 14 vessels have berthed for operations (loading and unloading of cargoes).
Meanwhile, 15 crew, aboard the oil tanker Pratibha Cauvery that ran aground on Wednesday due to heavy winds, had been rescued by the Coast Guard while six crew members' fate was not known yet.
The vessel was anchored in the Bay of Bengal off the Chennai Port with 37-member crew. The vessel started drifting towards the shore due to strong winds and ran aground at the Elliots Beach.
According to port officials, for reasons not yet known, 22 members of the crew decided to abandon the ship as the sea was rough. Local fishermen rescued some of them. Of the 22 who left the ship, 16 were rescued and admitted to a hospital and among them three are in a critical condition and one was brought dead.
Meanwhile, Chennai Port Trust chairman Atulya Misra said the director general of shipping would conduct an inquiry into this. He added the vessel did not have enough fuel to run the engine to face the high winds.
Impact on fishing
There are 13 fishing districts in Tamil Nadu. P Justin Antony, founder president, Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust said, fishermen who were on the shore did not venture into the sea and they were advised not to venture.
There are about 591 villages across 13 fishing districts in the state and for around 915,000 fishermen fishing is the only livelihood. A major portion of them have taken up deep sea fishing, since the income level is high.
