Met office withdraws extreme heavy rainfall warning
Chennai, Oct 6: The extreme heavy rainfall warning issued by the Regional meteorological department for south Tamil Nadu has been withdrawn, Deputy Director General S Balachandran said Saturday.
The Met office had Thursday forecast extreme heavy rainfall till Sunday, following the formation of an upper-air circulation over Southwest Bay of Bengal adjoining Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
Talking to reporters here, Balachandran said the extreme heavy rainfall warning announced for the southern parts of the state was withdrawn since the upper-air circulation had "weakened".
However, he said, places like Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari might receive "heavy to very heavy rainfall", instead of extremely heavy rainfall, in the next 24-48 hours.
For Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Balachandran said, there might be moderate rainfall in the next 24-48 hours.
The fishermen in the Central and South East Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep and Kanyakumari areas were advised not to venture into the sea from October 6 to 8, he said.
There might be light showers in Chennai and its outskirts during the next 24-48 hours, Balachandran added.
Another report said the tourist places in the Kodaikanal hill station were closed as heavy rainfall lashed Dindigul district Saturday.
According to forest department officials, the "Pillar" rock, Guna Parai and other tourist spots were closed.
Meanwhile, 25 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Madurai Saturday following the heavy rainfall warning.
The entry of Pilgrims from Rameswaram into coastal Dhanushkodi was also barred, officials said.
According to Ramanathapuram district administration officials, 215 fishermen who had ventured into the sea for fishing had returned.
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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.
