CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced that all government offices, except those engaged in essential services, will remain closed on Friday in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts due to heavy rain forecast. Holiday has been declared for schools and colleges too.
The Chief Minister on Thursday night inspected areas that were affected by flash rains in Chennai and expedited the relief works as well as works on evacuating the stagnated rainwater in a few places including Poonamallee High Road and Parrys Corner.
He also visited the Rippon Building and held discussions with Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi. During the visits, Ministers PK Sekar Babu and V Senthil Balaji were and senior officials were present.
At the State Disaster Management Authority, Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran on Thursday night reviewed the ongoing relief works in rain-affected areas and told reporters that three persons have lost their lives due to electrocution in Chennai and surrounding places after the rains. He said the evacuation of stagnated water was going on in full swing in all parts of Chennai.
Meanwhile, due to heavy inflow, the Chembarambakkam area received 19 cm of rain and as a result, the storage level of Chemmbarambakkam lake raised to 98 per cent. The inflow stands at 2,900 cusecs while the outflow is 1,000 cusecs.
The rainfall in various places in Chennai are as follows: MRC Nagar - 21 cm; Nugambakkam - 20 cm; Nandanam - 19 cm; Poonamallee - 19 cm and Meenambakkam - 15 cm.
In Chennai four subways - Duraisamy subway, RBI subway, Madley Road Road, and Rangajapuram two-wheeler subway have been closed due to water stagnation. Vehicles are moving at a slow pace at the following places: KK Nagar-Rajamannar Road, Mylapore-Sivaswami Road, EVR Road - Apollo Hospital junction, Alagappa Road, Anna Rotary Servies Road, KP Dasan Road, TTK First Cross Street, Thirumalai Pillai Road, Prakasam Road, Vinayakapuram Junction, Nazarathpet, 70 feet road at Jawahar Nagar. There is no traffic change alert for Chennai.
Water stagnation continues at Mangadu Janani Nagar, Malayampakkam Sakthi Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar in Kancheepuram district.