Cyclone Nada to weaken, fishermen warned: Met Department

The Meteorological Department on Thursday said Cyclone Nada would weaken in the next 12 hours and specific warning has been launched to fishermen not to venture into the sea.

The Met office said it may be downgraded, called a "deep depression", which is a notch below cyclone. It is currently about 350 km away from Tamil Nadu's capital Chennai, which has been cloudy since morning with mild showers in some areas.

"Cyclone Nada will weaken as deep depression and cross the coast. In the next 12 hours, the cyclone will weaken into a deep depression," said meteorological department. "Under the influence of this system, rainfall is expected to occur at many places in the next two days, and fishermen are warned not to venture into sea."

A cyclone alert has been sounded in Tamil Nadu in view of deep depression forming over the Bay of Bengal.

Chennai, the coastal regions of the state and Puducherry are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next two days.

Area Cyclone Warning Centre director S,. Balachandran said the cyclone was expected to move in west-northwest direction and would cross between Vedaranyam and Puducherry in the early hours of December 2.

"The well-marked low pressure area, which was lying over the southeast bay yesterday intensified further and intensifies the cyclone storm. And today morning (Wednesday), at 8:30, lying at about 735 kilometer southeast of Puducherry or Southwest of Bay of Bengal," said Balachandran in Chennai.

He further added that this cyclone has been named as Nada. In the wake of the approaching system, light to moderate rain are likely to commence over the coastal regions.

India is one of the most disaster-prone nations in the world and many of its 1.2 billion people live in areas vulnerable to hazards such as floods, cyclones and droughts.

Freak weather patterns not only affect agricultural output and food security, but also lead to water shortages and trigger outbreaks of water and mosquito-borne diseases such as diarrhea and malaria in many developing nations.