The well-marked low pressure area in between Sri Lanka and the Maldives has intensified into a depression, as observed this morning by the India Meteorological Department. Met Deputy Director General Dr Balachandran told reporters in Chennai, the system is expected to further concentrate into deep depression in the next 24 hours and into a cyclone in the subsequent 24 hours. The direction of the weather system is expected to be in the north west direction crossing the Lakshadweep islands.<br />''<br />''Under the influence of the weather system, 80 Observation Centres in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have witnessed heavy rain in the last 24 hours with Tiruttani in Tiruvallur district recording 19 centimetres in the last 24 hours.<br />''<br />''Most places in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are expected to witness widespread rain in the next 24 hours, with the possibility of heavy rain over many places in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Pudukkottai, Trichy, Ariyalur, Perambalur, all of the Delta districts, Puducherry, Karaikal, Tiiruvallur, Vellore, Kanchipuram and Tiruvannamalai districts and the regions adjoining the Western Ghats.<br />''<br />''Fishermen have been asked not to venture into the sea adjoining Kanyakumari, the Gulf of Mannar, the Maldives, Lakshadweep and southern Kerala coast for the next two days.<br />''<br />''Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Revenue Department has asked all the districts in the state to keep its disaster management machinery on high . Principal Commissioner of Revenue Dr Radhakrishnan told reporters in Chennai today, out of the 770 deep sea fishing boats that set off from Kanyakumari district, all but seven have returned safely to the shores. Contact has been established with two of the boats, while efforts are on to trace the other five vessels with the help of the Mumbai-based Maritime Search and Rescue Centre, the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and the officials of the Indian embassy in Muscat.<br />''<br />''Another batch of 525 boats set sail for fishing from Ramanathapuram district, out of which 520 have returned to the shores, two others are fast approaching the shores and three others have been ed to reach the nearby shores.<br />''<span style="color: #222222;"><br />''Due to heavy rain, eight districts in Tamil Nadu have declared holiday for educational institutions for today. In Chennai, incessant rain is being witnessed from this morning leading to traffic snarls in a few locations.</span><br />