JOIN USAfter being battered by heavy downpour in the last three days due to a deep depression, there was some respite for Tamil Nadu on Monday, even as the toll from rain-related incidents increased to 16 in the state.
Two persons, including a student, drowned in flood waters in Vellore district, while one woman died when a portion of a wall collapsed on her in Villupuram district on Sunday night.
The state has been experiencing heavy rain since last Friday due to a deep depression, which crossed the Nagapattinam coast on Saturday afternoon. The MeT Department has predicted that the state, especially coastal districts, would receive more rain through Tuesday.
Revenue Administration department officials said hundreds of trees were uprooted and that banana plantations in many parts of Nagapattinam and Cuddalore were damaged following gusty winds.
Hundreds of villages in the coastal district also remained submerged, while road and rail routes were affected. Relief and restoration works are being carried out by the government and private organisations round-the-clock.
The downpour has brought copious inflows to various reservoirs and lakes in the state that supply drinking water to the people.
Sources from the Public Works Department said that the water level in various dams, including Mettur, the lifeline of Delta farmers, Vaigai and Periyar, has consistently increased due to heavy rain in the 48 hours prior to Monday. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into sea till Wednesday, as strong northwesterly and westerly winds, reaching 45-55 kmph, are expected off the south Tamil Nadu coast.
Chennai, Tiruvallur and Nilgiris districts recorded a maximum of five centimetres of rainfall since Sunday, followed by Tirunelveli district, which registered four centimetres of rain during the same period.
Chennai is limping back to normal with buses, most of which were suspended, starting to ply. In most places, corporation authorities have drained water from flooded areas.