Chennai rains: Toll rises to five, red alert till 11 Nov; nine districts declare holiday in schools, colleges

While incessant rains continue in Chennai and its surrounding areas, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded a red alert in Tamil Nadu for the next three days. On Tuesday, the IMD predicted “light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall and extremely heavy falls at isolated places” in the state, sounding a red alert till 11 November. The state government has announced holiday on 10 and 11 November for schools and colleges in nine districts — Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai. The toll in Tamil Nadu due to rain-related incident on Tuesday jumped to five, said Tamil Nadu Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran, adding that 538 huts were damaged and four houses fully damaged. “More damage expected if rain intensifies,” Ramachandran added. Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi urged the people of the state to remain alert and take precautionary measures in the next few days. Chief Minister MK Stalin said, “Tamil Nadu to provide free food through Amma Canteens till the rainy season (current intense rain spell) ends.” He even promised to ‘revamp Chennai completely,’ adding that an enquiry would be done on funds allocated for flood prevention, reported Indian Express. Court takes Chennai corporation to task The Madras High Court sharply questioned the Greater Chennai Corporation on waterlogging situation in the city, asking, “What Was Chennai Corp Doing Since 2015 Floods?”, reported ANI.

The court further warned of initiating suo motu proceedings if the situation isn’t brought under control.

The prevailing rains and floods in Tamil Nadu is a lesson for government officials vis-a-vis encroachment, the Madras High Court observed on Tuesday. The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu made the observation while disposing of a writ petition from one T Tamilarasan, praying for a direction to the Ariyalur district administration to remove the encroachments made by an individual on an extent of 1.03 hectare, which had been classified as Mamanakka Lake (water body) in a village there by considering his representation dated October 12 this year and consequently direct them to restore the lake to its original position at the cost of the encroacher, reports PTI. “It may not be out of context to record that the on-going rains and the floods in and around Chennai and elsewhere in the state should be a lesson for the government officials to take immediate action against any person attempting to encroach into any waterbody or the path meant for flowing water during the rainy season,” the bench said. As per Indian Express , IMD has predicted rains until Thursday due to the formation of a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. The system is likely to intensify into a depression and move west-northwestwards. IMD has said the rains could lead to flooding of roads, inundation and water logging in low-lying areas; low visibility; disruption of traffic; damage to vulnerable structures; localised landslides/mudslides; and damage to crops. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has visited  the rain-affected areas and and reviewed the situation. He even distributed food in various parts of the city.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin visits & reviews the situation in rain-affected & water-logged areas; distributes food in various parts of the city

Visuals from various parts of Chennai pic.twitter.com/BC0TE80nlW

— ANI (@ANI) November 9, 2021

Speaking to ANI, Tamil Nadu Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said the state has received average rainfall of 16.84 mm in last 24 hours with Chengalpet district receiving the highest. The S-8 Adambakkam police station in Chennai has been shifted temporarily to a house. The station is now relocated at New Colony Second Street, Adambakkam. “The station is three feet below the ground level and during rains, water enters the station and the building is also leaky. After incessant rains for the past two days, the station is full of water and on the directions from senior officers, we have shifted our station to a nearby home to serve the public,” Police Inspector Valarmathi told media,  reported  News18. In Chennai, most roads are under water and power supply has also been disconnected in several places for safety. Chennai’s transport services have been badly hit and in the wake of the heavy rainfall in the city, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has decided to operate Metro trains with a frequency of 10 minutes till Friday. The Metro trains will run from 5.30am to 11 pm. As per a report by The Times of India, a monitoring committee has also been constituted by CMRL to track weather updates and take appropriate action on the operation of metro trains accordingly. CMRL Managing Director, Pradeep Yadav, in a meeting, ordered the newly-formed committee to track wind speeds through the anemometers installed at various locations and take precautionary measures, as per the report. Fishermen along the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been advised not to venture out till 11 November. IMD has said “squally weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is likely to prevail over southeast and southwest Bay of Bengal, Comorin area, Gulf of Munnar and Tamil Nadu coast”. With inputs from agencies