Amid rain wreaking havoc in some parts of Karnataka, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted very heavy rainfall in parts of neighbouring Tamil Nadu as well. Six districts including the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Theni and Tankasi in Tamil Nadu are likely to get heavy to very heavy rain in the next 24 hours, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai said on Tuesday, September 6. In light of this, an orange warning has been issued in these districts, while a yellow warning has been issued in all other districts of the state on Tuesday. A yellow warning is also in place across the state for Wednesday and Thursday, September 7 and 8. The weather agency also forecasts isolated light to moderate rain over Puducherry and Namakkal for Tuesday and Wednesday.
In a daily weather report, the RMC noted that 14 districts in Tamil Nadu, namely Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Sivagangai, Karur, Tiruchirapalli, Erode, Salem, Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, and Tirupattur will likely receive heavy rain in the next 24 hours. The RMC also mentioned that this weather is likely to continue till Friday, September 9. Chennai and its neighboring areas are likely to be partly cloudy, and isolated areas in Chennai will likely get light to moderate rain with thunderstorms, the bulletin stated. Maximum and minimum temperatures in the city are predicted to be around 36˚C and 27˚C respectively.
According to the RMC bulletin, Nilakottai in Dindigul district received 9 cm of rain in the last 24 hours, and Viralimalai in Pudukkottai received 8 cm rain. Anaippalayam in Karur, Tiruvarur district, Periyakulam in Theni and Chinnakalar of Coimbatore received 7 cm in the last 24 hours.
Following the heavy rains in Karnataka, water discharge from the dams in the state increased, and in turn, the inflow into the Stanley reservoir in Mettur also increased. On Tuesday morning, 1.25 lakh cusecs of water was discharged from the dam into the Cauvery river, and a warning was issued to people residing in low-lying areas on the banks of the river.
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In Theni, the sluice gates of the Vaigai dam were also opened as the dam reached its full capacity. Around 15,000 cusecs of water was discharged into the Vaigai river on Tuesday. A warning has been issued to the people residing in low-lying areas in Madurai. Madurai district collector Dr S Aneesh Sekhar in a statement asked the Madurai residents not to wade into the river and also asked to protect the livestock away from the river course.
In Kerala as well, the IMD has issued a red warning to Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, and Kollam districts. In addition to this, an orange warning was issued to several neighboring districts including Alappuzha, Kottayam, and Ernakulam.