JOIN USRain continues to batter TN
As the low pressure over the Southwest Bay, off Tamil Nadu coast, became a “well- marked low pressure” and could turn into a depression, the Regional Meteorological centre has forecast heavy rainfall over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 48 hours.
The Chennai harbour has hoisted danger signal number 9, amid weathermen predicting squally winds reaching up to 60 kilometre per hour in coastal areas. With continuous downpour since Sunday, many parts of the city are inundated. Deputy Chief Minister M K Stalin visited the houses damaged by rain.
The Southern districts from Villipuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Madurai and Tuticorin have taken the brunt of the rain in the last few days. Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts have also been hit.
Sources said people living in low-lying areas have been asked to move to safer places, particularly along the course of major rivers and near lakes in different parts of the state. The Vaigai river in Madurai is in spate, even as the Chemparampakkam lake, one of the reservoirs feeding Chennai, has almost touched its full capacity.
Threat to city
The surplus waters will be released on Tuesday, posing a threat to the city’s south-west areas. Even the huge Madhuranthakam lake in neighbouring Kancheepuram district has suprlus waters, sources said. The Veeranam lake in Cuddalore district is overflowing, marooning scores of villages there even as coastal Nagapattinam is once again among the worst-hit districts.
Nearly 150 villages have been encircled by a vast sheet of water there, officials said.
The standing paddy crops in the Cauvery delta districts have been a major casualty this year, even as the road to the hill station of Kodaikanal in Dindigul district has been severely breached due to land-slips, sources said.
Chief Minister M Karunanidhi dispatched eight senior IAS officials to the worst-affected districts for an on-the-spot assessment of the damage to crops and infrastructure. Further course of action to mitigate the impact of the floods will be decided at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.