JOIN USNormal life was affected across Tamil Nadu due to heavy rain that continues to lash the state due to a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal even as the water levels in various reservoirs in the State are on the rise.
“A trough of low pressure with upper air circulation has been formed over Bay of Bengal. Under its influence heavy rain is expected to occur during the next 24 hours,” senior Met officials said on Wednesday.
Public Works Department officials said that the Stanley reservoir in Mettur, the lifeline of delta farmers, continues to receive good inflow since Saturday, taking the water level to the over 75-feet mark compared to last week's figure of just 69 feet against its full capacity of 120 feet.
The downpour, which crippled normal life in the state, has also brought copious inflows into other major reservoirs in the State including Vaigai, Mullaperiyar and Bhavanisagar dams. All of these were on the verge of drying out, but have received good inflow in the last three days.
The inflow into the Mullaperiyar dam went up from 150 cusecs to 336 cusecs on Wednesday morning after heavy downpour. Now the water level in the Mullaperiyar is 115 feet.
The catchment areas of the Vaigai dam also received good rainfall with the inflow into the reservoir increasing from 90 cusecs in the last few days to 110 cusecs on Wednesday. The water level in the Vaigai reservoir stood at 38 feet against its total capacity of 71 feet. In addition, the water level in Bhavanisagar also rose to 70 feet against its capacity of 105 feet.
The latest bulletin from the weather department said that isolated heavy rain would occur over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 24 hours.
Dharmapuram in Tiruppur district received maximum rainfall of nine centimetres during the last 24 hours followed by Karaikal district, which registered seven centimetres during the same period.
Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds lashed all the districts including Chennai, crippling normal life, inundating low-lying areas and throwing vehicular traffic out of gear. Many low-lying areas in Chennai reported water-logging and people, especially from the working class, found it difficult to wade through knee-deep water in some places.