Chennai: With IMD having sounding the red alert ahead of the intense rain expected on Thursday, the State police department has stepped up preparations and counter measures.
Tamilnadu DGP C Sylendra Babu said at least 75,000 officers have been assigned for flood rescue measures across the State.
Over 75,000 personnel from the local police, Armed Reserve, Tamilnadu Special Police and Home Guards have been kept ready to handle emergency and relief works on the orders of Sylendra Babu.
This has been arranged as a precautionary measure to meet exigencies during heavy rain expected from Wednesday. State Disaster Response teams with rescue boats, wood-cutting machines and drilling machines have also been deployed.
The state police headquarters, in a statement, said about 250 state disaster rescue force (SDRF) personnel are ready with rescue fibre boats, handheld saws and wall drilling machines. Teams comprising at least 350 coastal security guard CID police with kayaks, 250 special task force personnel and 364 personnel from the disaster rescue section of the Tamilnadu Home Guard are on standby.
The police headquarters can be reached at 044-24343662, 044-24331074, 044-28447701, and 044-28447703, city’s public grievances cell at 044-23452380, and state police control room at 044-23452359.
Meanwhile, as heavy rain continued to batter parts of Tamilnadu, Sylendra Babu sent out a video message urging people to be indoors.
Sylendra Babu in the video listed the dos and don’ts and appealed to people not to let their children go out to unsafe places. He asked people to be cautious of lightning and thundershowers. He also asked them to refrain from using TV when there is a thunderstorm to avoid any untoward incident.
The DGP has asked people to take all precautions before the heavy rainfall that has been forecast. Schools and colleges in nine districts of Tamilnadu remain shut today. Owing to a heavy-rain forecast, a holiday has been declared in Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai.