Heavy rains continue in TN; toll rises to 122

Several parts of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Puducherry continued to receive rains today and the Met office warned that more rains are expected in the next 24 hours as the trough of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal moved near Kanyakumari sea.

The toll in rain-related incidents since the onset of the north-east monsoon last month rose to 122 today with the death of a 27-year old man here in a building collapse, police said.

"The trough of low pressure has moved westwards near Kanyakumari and coastal districts will receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours", Director of Regional Meteorological Centre here S R Ramanan said.

For the city and its neighbourhood, the forecast would be cloudy while there may be moderate rainfall in one or two places, he said.

Ilumbur in Pudukottai district received heavy rainfall of 9 cm as of 8.30 AM today, he said. Puducherry recorded 7 cm.

In Otteri area in the city, a partially demolished building collapsed and fell on an adjacent building, killing a man and injuring a woman, police said.

Schools and colleges are set to reopen tomorrow in three adjoining districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur after remaining closed for nearly ten days in view of the monsoon fury.

However, In Puducherry, where heavy rains continued through the day badly affecting normal life, the government declared a holiday for all schools for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on a two-day tour of the rain-hit areas in Tamil Nadu, said she would write a letter to the state government on the impact of rains on the industrials units.

"I am really pained to see the (industrial) units have been severely hit. Definitely I will take it up with the Government of India. First, I will take it up with Industries Minister", she told reporters after visiting marooned industrial units in Ambattur Industrial Estate here.

"First I will take it up with the Industries Minister. Second, along with the details provided to me, I will write a letter in detail to the Chief Minister (J Jayalalithaa) on the impact of the rainfall", she said.

"It requires a big step to restore. We will take steps in such a way that the water-logged units function normally", she said.

A report from Tirunelveli said the Adavinayinar Dam reached its maximum water level of 132 feet following rains officials have started releasing surplus water.

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President E V K S Elangovan, on a visit to Tiruneveli, criticised charged Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for not spending sufficient time in personally visiting the flood affected areas to assess the damage.