Tamil Nadu received 56% higher than normal rainfall from this year’s southwest monsoon. While Tiruppur, Karur and Theni districts recorded the highest excesses between June 1 and August 10, only Cuddalore and Kanyakumari districts recorded minor deficits, as per a report.
Ten districts in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry — Ariyalur (131%), Dindigul (100%), Karaikkal (137%), Karur (198%), Perambalur (116%), Pudukkottai (106%), Theni (152%), Tiruppur (230%), Thiruvarur (127%) and Trichy (132%) — received 100% or more than normal rainfall estimated in this season, as per the data available with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Devala (the Nilgiris) received 12 cms of rains and Yercaud (Salem) received 10 cms of rains as per the latest report of rainfall published by the IMD. Valparai, Chinnakallar, Cincona in Coimbatore district and Pandhalur in the Nilgiris also received over 5 cms of rains in the previous 24 hours as of Monday’s report.
After high rainfall recorded in the ghat areas, Kerala and Karnataka also pushed up the inflow into Tamil Nadu’s dams. The water level at Bhavani Sagar dam in Erode crossed 100 feet level as against the full reservoir level of 105 feet and a flood warning has been issued to those living in the downstream areas of the dam. Similarly, the Mettur dam near Salem also has over 95 feet of water against the full reservoir level of 120 feet as of Tuesday. The inflow into Mettur dam is at 80,000 cusecs and the outflow from the dam is at 10,000 cusecs. The water inflow at Billigundulu is 70000 cusecs as of Tuesday morning.
The IMD has forecast dry weather over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry till August 14. Madurai and Thoothukudi reported temperatures over 36 degrees Celsius on Monday, which is the highest in Tamil Nadu. Kodaikkanal reported the lowest temperature in the state on Monday around 17 degrees Celsius.