CHENNAI: Two people have died in the city due to rain-related incidents, according to reports.
A 47-year-old woman died after a portion of a wall from her house's balcony allegedly fell on her on Tuesday morning. The woman identified as Shanthi, a resident of Prakash Rao Colony in Pulianthope, was standing outside her house and pumping corporation water when the wall fell on her.
Shanthi died on the spot. Her body was sent to Government Stanley Hospital for postmortem. The Pulianthope have registered a case and a probe is on. Initial inquiries revealed that the house was old and the wall allegedly fell due to heavy rain from Monday evening.
In another incident, a 52-year-old auto driver was allegedly electrocuted after he came into contact with a live wire in Vyasarpadi on Monday. The man identified as Devendran, who was in an inebriated state, was returning to his home at BV Colony in Vyasarpadi on Monday night. As he was walking in knee-deep rainwater that had stagnated on his street, he came into contact with a pole of a tent that was erected near his house. He got electrocuted as the pole was in contact with a live wire from the nearby EB box. He died on the spot. The MKB Nagar police sent his body to Government Stanley Hospital for postmortem. Further investigations are on.
Meanwhile, an orange alert was issued to all wards in Chennai on Tuesday afternoon.
The city and the neighboring areas will receive another day of heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
From Wednesday, the intensity of rainfall will come down, although the current monsoon spell will remain active till November 5.
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S Balachandran, deputy director general of meteorology at the regional meteorological centre, said that Chennai and neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday. In view of the heavy rains, a holiday was declared for schools in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet on Tuesday.
The present cyclone circulation lies over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the Sri Lanka coast, Balachandran said. Also, an east-west shear zone lies over Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday reviewed the arrangements made for facing the northeast monsoon across the State through video-conferencing as he is experiencing a back issue. Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran, Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu and senior officials from all departments took part in this meeting.
The Chief Minister said that the meteorological department has predicted that Tamil Nadu may get 35 per cent to 75 per cent surplus rains during the northeast monsoon period this year. He also said that the storage level in 43 dams reached 75 per cent to 100 per cent, and in 17 dams, the storage levels remains between 50 per cent to 75 per cent.
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Red Hills in Tiruvallur has recorded a whopping 13 cm of rainfall, the highest in the State in the last 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Tuesday.
Perambur in Chennai recorded 12 cm. Weather stations in Chennai Collectorate Building, Tondaiyarpet, Villivakkam, and Ponneri recorded 10 cm of rainfall.
Several other stations, including Nungambakkam, DGP Office, Nandanam, and Anna University have also recorded significant rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 8 cm.
Nungambakkam weather station received 8 cm of rainfall on November 1, which is the third highest in 72 years and the highest in the last 30 years. Previously, 13 cm was received in 1990 and 11 cm in 1964.
Water being pumped out from streets
Specific alerts have already been given to the residents living in low-lying areas and South Chennai.
Despite heavy overnight rains, water has reportedly been drained out from many of the arterial roads in Chennai by Tuesday.
Areas of Velachery and T Nagar that usually get waterlogged during rains did not face the problem as of Tuesday afternoon and vehicles were reportedly able to move freely. "This is maybe the first time that there has been consistent rain and there is no water logging in our area. Water has been draining quickly so far," said Geetha Ganesh, a resident of AGS Colony, Velachery
Burkit road, North Usman road, and GN Chetty road which were waterlogged during last year's rainfall were free of waterlogging on Tuesday morning.
The city corporation has also deployed pumps in areas where the stormwater drains (SWDs) are not yet completed.
Pump operators said that they have been at work since Monday night to pump out water in places where SWDs work was still in progress.
The inflow to Chemberambakkam lake has increased to 150 cusecs on Tuesday morning while there has been no inflow for the past few days. Currently, the storage capacity is 2.675 TMCft of water out of a total of 3.645 TMCft.
The water level at Chembarambakkam stands at 20.29 feet. The Water Resources Department is planning to store water up to 23 feet in Chembarambakkam against its full capacity of 24 feet.
A Water Resources Department (WRD) official told TNIE that surplus water is yet to be discharged from city drinking water reservoirs excluding Kannankottai Therovy Kandigai where 62 cusecs were discharged. Depending upon the rain, they planned to discharge the surplus water.
CHENNAI RESERVOIRS STATUS (01.11.2022 @ 6.00AM)
Total storage of 6 reservoirs (in TMC) 13.222/7.802
Individual reservoir/readings:
1) REDHILL
2) CHOLAVARAM
3) CHEMBARAMBAKKAM
4) POONDI
5) VEERANAM
6) KANNANKOTTAI THERVOY KANDIGAI
7) KRISHNA WATER
The Chennai Corporation has said that the public can call 1913 for any grievance or flood-related help. People can also reach out via Twitter by using #ChennaiRains hashtag and tag its handle @chennaicorp.