Bhubaneswar, Nov. 29 -- As Cyclonic Storm Ditwah advances towards the north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts, authorities across the region have stepped up preparedness measures following an orange alert issued by the India Meteorological Department.

The IMD said the cyclone moved north-northwestwards at 7 kilometres per hour over the past 6 hours and, as of late Friday night, was centred over coastal Sri Lanka and the adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal. The weather system is expected to continue moving in the same direction before emerging into the Bay waters and reaching near the north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by the early hours of November 30.

In view of the forecast, the Villupuram district adm...