The Northeast Monsoon rains have commenced over coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and adjoining areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh on October 29, said a statement from Dr S Balachandran, Head, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai. According to updates by TamilNadu Weather-IMD, the official Twitter handle of RMC, Chennai, Sholingar, Kundrathur, Madurantakam, Chengalpet, Walajabad, Nemili, and Thirukalukundram in the Chennai-Kanchipuram-Thiruvallur belt is likely to receive moderate rains in the evening hours of October 29.
As per the Chennai RMC weather report, isolated heavy rains are likely to occur in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Thoothukudi, Theni, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari districts of Tamilnadu.
Chennai weather has been predicted to be generally cloudy. Moderate rain is likely to occur in some areas of the city and its neighbouring areas. The maximum temperature of the day will be around 31-32˚C while the minimum temperature will go as low as 25-26˚C.
The highest amount of rainfall was recorded in Cuddalore which received 8cm within the last 24 hours. Nanguneri in Tirunelveli district received 6cm of rain while Marakkanam of Villupuram received 5cm of rain during the same period.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), anticipating waterlogging, has placed several motor pumps in many areas in the city to pump the water out of the residential areas. They have also deployed staff on night duty in 114 flood-prone areas.A control room to mitigate the challenges pertaining to flooding has also been set up. The control room is equipped with live tracking technology where the officials can monitor water levels in flood-prone areas and subways using sensors. Chennai residents have been advised to reach out to the civic body officials through the helpline number 1913 to complain about monsoon-related issues.
This year the GCC has promised that water inundation in the city will be low as new Stormwater Drains (SWD) will reduce flooding events. Despite the promise, in many places, the project is halfway done. The residents in the past two months reported accidents due to the lack of safety barriers put up on the construction sites. Pedestrians and bikers fell into pits that were left open. On October 23, a young journalist Muthukrishnan lost his life after he fell into the stormwater drain constructed by the Highways Department.