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Tamil Nadu seeks ₹2,629 crore from the Centre as relief for the damages
Chennai and 15 other districts in Tamil Nadu are on red alert until Friday with schools and offices closed. Heavy rains lashed districts of Chennai, Villupuram, Thiruvanamalai, Salem, Kallakurichi and Chengalpattu but the damage was not as severe as it was during the last week’s rains.
Days after heavy rain caused havoc in Chennai, the city received downpour due to another depression formed in Bay of Bengal on Thursday. Then newly formed Depression is likely to make a landfall near Chennai on Friday. More rains are expected on Friday morning after the landfall.
Chennai and 15 other districts in Tamil Nadu are on red alert until Friday with schools and offices closed. Heavy rains lashed districts of Chennai, Villupuram, Thiruvanamalai, Salem, Kallakurichi and Chengalpattu but the damage was not as severe as it was during the last week’s rains. The adjacent union territory of Puducherry was also severely flooded having received 12.8 cm of rainfall from 8.30am up to 3.30pm on November 18. During the same time period Chennai received 2.9 cm of rainfall.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an alert stating that Depression will cross the coast between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh by early November 19. At 11.30am the Depression lay centered over southwest Bay of Bengal about 250km south-southeast of Chennai, 220km east-southeast of Puducherry and 210km east-northeast of Karaikal, the IMD said. “It is very likely to continue to move west-northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts around Chennai by early morning,” said the IMD.
Chennai and its adjoining districts are likely to get scattered heavy to very heavy with isolated extremely heavy rain in the next 24-hour, and heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur in the next 48-hour, S Balachandran, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Chennai chief said in a statement.
The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday sought aid of ₹2,629 crore from the Centre as aid for the damages caused by heavy rainfall in which 54 people lost their lives. Heavy loss to crops has also occurred in the delta districts.
The rains had inundated several parts of Chennai affecting normal life. “The corporation is continuously pumping water and despite that there is one-feet water on our street,” said S Gopi, a resident and secretary of Subramanian Nagar civic welfare association in Chennai’s Kodambakkam which is in the heart of the city. Gopi lives on the first floor of his independent house and his tenants on the ground floor moved a day ago as water had entered their home.
“The sewage from the manholes had begun overflowing at that time and we are still living amidst a really bad stench,” says Gopi. He said the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) commissioner Gagandeep Sigh Bedi visited their locality five times since the last rains. “Despite their efforts the water stagnated for three days last week, but civic workers were able to drain it out fully and they cleaned the entire area and we had relief for two days and now as soon as it has started raining, our locality is flooded,” Gopi said adding that a fault drain and culvert network doesn’t carry the run-off.
The situation in Chennai was worse during the previous spells of heavy rains between November 6 and 7 and on November 11 when the city received 21 cm and 16 cm respectively. Chennai and Tamil Nadu received excess rainfall during this northeast monsoon season that runs from October to December. From October 1 to November 18, Chennai and Tamil Nadu received 66% and 61% of excess rainfall respectively.
Based on the localities that were flooded in last week’s rain, the GCC stationed more than 700 motor pumps at vulnerable locations to drain water and advised people to stock essentials for the next two days as the city is on red alert for more rains. “We have identified these pockets, most of which are in low-lying areas and we have made alternative routes for the water to drain faster,” said Bedi.
Surplus water from reservoirs was released—2,111 cubic feet of water from Chembarambakkam Lake and 7,021 cubic feet from the Poondi reservoir. Teams from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and four teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been on standby in districts since last week’s rains. They have deployed 3,000 trained personnel in coastal districts for rescue operations and 2,156 people have been taken to relief camps. The Tamil Nadu government has readied a total of 5,000 relief camps across the state. In Chennai, 839 people have been accommodated in five relief camps.
