Students walk past the waterlogged portion of their school amid rain due to Cyclone Ditwah, in Chennai, Monday.
Credit: PTI Photo
Chennai: A Deep depression, remnant of Cyclone Ditwah, continued to dump heavy rainfall across Chennai and its neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, and Kanchipuram for the second consecutive day on Tuesday leading to waterlogging and inundation in several localities.
Chennai city recorded 15.4 cm rainfall in 24 hours ending 8.30 am Tuesday with north Chennai bearing the maximum brunt with Parrys Corner and Ennore registering 26 cm rainfall each during the above mentioned period followed by Ice House (23.1 cm), Basin Bridge (20.7 cm), and New Manali Town (20.6 cm).
Other localities like Vadapalani registered 18.1 cm rainfall, Medavakkam (17.7 cm), and Nungambakkam (14 cm), even as waterlogging was reported from several areas across the city, throwing normal life out of gear. The city recorded an average rainfall of 36.97 cm since the onset of the North-East Monsoon on October 17, 2025.
People in north Chennai complained that they were not able to come out of their homes due to waterlogging and demanded that rain water be drained out immediately. “We have been stuck inside our home. We can’t step out as there is knee-deep water in our street. People came to drain the water out but they left within a few minutes. This is the situation every year. Nothing has changed,” a resident in Purasawalkam in the city said.
As a precaution, the government announced a holiday for schools and colleges in Chengalpattu, Chennai, Tiruvallur, and Kanchipuram districts on Tuesday after students faced severe inconvenience due to heavy rains on Monday.
Intense spells of rainfall lashed across the city at regular intervals from Monday morning and continued till the time of writing. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) said it distributed over 2 lakh food packets for breakfast in the city to people affected by the rains even as hundreds of motor pumps have been deployed to drain rain water out.
In an update issued at 9 pm, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said the weather system weakened into a Depression and is very likely to move slowly south-westwards towards the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during next 12 hours.
Independent weather blogger Pradeep John said the Depression was still in the sea and would move inland south of Chennai around Kalpakkam between midnight to early morning.
“As we go into night and tomorrow - There will be an increase in rainfall in Chennai and other districts. We can already see clouds intensifying in Tiruvallur and north Chennai areas. Remember, as long as circulation is still there, clouds can form anytime out of the blue,” he added.