Rains Lash Chennai, Disrupt Normal Life
What happened? Heavy rains lashed Chennai and adjoining districts, especially Tiruvallur, on Monday, disrupting normal life, but schools and colleges were not declared closed by the district administration as the impact of Cyclone Ditwah continued in the northern parts and delta regions, forcing many people who could go about their normal work due to persistent inclement weather to spend a long weekend.
The administration had made every effort to ensure that waterlogging and traffic disruptions were minimal and Chief Minister MK Stalin had met the Collectors of the districts facing the wrath of the cyclone. While the cyclone storm continued to affect the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, rains continued although the system weakened into a deep depression.
The India Meteorological Department expected the deep depression to weaken further but bring abundant showers to the state but has issued a red alert to Chennai and its adjoining districts, besides predicting heavy rains in places like Ranipet, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu. As rains are likely to continue overnight, schools and colleges in Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram and Thirvallur have been declared closed on Tuesday.
Heavy rains were also expected in the western and delta districts of the state. Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin visited the Command and Control Center run by Chennai Corporation and checked the images beamed by CCTV cameras fixed to monitor the free flow of water through canals and waterways.
Since the cyclonic system is likely to move in a northerly direction before dissipating, there is a possibility of heavy rains flowing into water bodies that are already filled near its mouth. However, experts have ruled out a repeat of the 2015 floods as authorities keep a close eye on water bodies in Chennai.
In some districts, rains may damage crops in the field. Farmers fear that besides the Cauvery delta where paddy crops are at risk, one lakh banana trees and 1000 acres of Papaya area in Thoothukudi may be affected. As the rains continued in Tiruvallur, acres of paddy crops were submerged.
Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami demanded adequate compensation for farmers who lost their crops due to Cyclone Ditwah by taking a proper damage census. He said farmers growing other crops like banana, sugarcane and betel leaves also fear heavy losses due to rains.
A common problem reported in districts and coastal areas in the delta region was fields submerging submerged crops. They fear that most of the crops will become useless.
In Tiruvannamalai, where the government has made arrangements for the smooth conduct of Karthigai Deepam festivities by ensuring that all arrangements are made to meet the needs of devotees without any hitch, a tragic incident of heavy rain and landslide claimed seven lives.
Otherwise, there were no major mishaps due to the cyclone in Tamil Nadu, where people played it safe and authorities kept a close eye on it based on inputs from the IMD.
