Chennai weather is getting intense due to heavy rainfall and has created havoc in and around the city including districts like Kancheepuram, Chengalpet, and Tiruvallur. Due to continuous rainfall, the water level has touched knee-level as of October 16. Tamil Nadu State Relief Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni, informed the State media that Chennai has received rainfall that was recorded as 16 cm. The excess water has disturbed the public transport service and has led to heavy traffic which has made it impossible for people to continue with their daily life routine.
The India Meteorological Department IMD has issued a red alert for Chennai and other districts on Wednesday. This signals for extremely heavy rain possibilities for the next 24 hours. As per latest reports, “very heavy rainfall” warning has been served for October 17 and 18. Meanwhile, 8 flights and at least 4 trains have been cancelled. The Meteorological Department said that a cyclonic circulation is forming in the Bay of Bengal off Andhra Pradesh coast, while on the other hand, a very deep low pressure is forming over Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which will gradually develop into a cyclone. In areas like Anna Nagar, Ram Nagar, Velachery, Koyambedu market, Pallikaranai, Poonamallee Road, Teynampet etc, water has entered people’s homes including actor Rajnikanth’s house.
School and college holiday
Followed by heavy rainfall, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin announced a holiday for schools on October 16, 2024 in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu. Other than schools and colleges, public holiday has been announced today for Government offices and the public sector in the above mentioned four districts. It has been directed by the government that other services like Chennai Metro, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) shall continue. Moreover, the government has asked private establishments to switch to ‘work from home’ till October 18 to facilitate employees.
Meanwhile, the state government has ensured the safety of people and has informed that around 26 teams of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) have been deployed in five coastal districts which are having rain alert. Moreover, around 300 relief centres have been identified in Chennai and around more than 900 relief centres in nearby areas. Medical camps have also been arranged and boats with manpower have been sent to places with extreme water logging. Efforts are being made to push out water from the low lying areas to unaffected areas with the help of evacuation machines that were planted in Chennai around 6:00 p.m. yesterday. Heavy rainfall is expected for the next 3 days according to the weather forecast.