Heavy rain pounds Puducherry, normal life hit
Puducherry, Oct 4: Heavy rains lashed Puducherry and its outskirts affecting normal life Thursday morning. Most of most educational institutions in the union territory remained closed in view of the intermittent rains which started Wednesday night, officials said.
Officials said rainfall of 96.4 mm was registered during the last 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. Thursday.
Waterlogging was reported in some residential areas on the outskirts of the town. Traffic came to a standstill at some important junctions, the officials added.
An emergency meeting of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department was chaired by the district Collector to review the rain situation, official sources told PTI.
The Met department has forecast widespread, moderate rain with some isolated incidents of heavy downpour in the next three days in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea between October 6 and 8 over the South Kerala coast, Lakshadweep area, Comorin area, Southeast Arabian sea and Central Arabian sea.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
