CHENNAI: With the city’s reservoirs at around 86% of their full capacity as per data available until Friday, Chennai finds itself bracing for yet another round of rains, not long after cyclone Fengal and another low pressure area brought heavy downpour last week.
Since the Northeast monsoon onset on October 1, the city has received around 97 cm of rainfall, almost a 30% departure from normal. The current storage level at Poondi reservoir is 97.7%, Chembarambakkam 94.7%, Puzhal 89.3%, Veeranam 79.4% and Cholavaram 25.9%.
Since the impending weather system is coming at the fag end of the monsoon and at a time when the reservoirs are nearly full, weather bloggers said Chennai is now at a higher risk of waterlogging compared to previous spells this monsoon season.
However, city corporation officials told TNIE that though they are not expecting extremely heavy rainfall to lash the city, they are prepared for any eventuality. “We have 300 relief centres ready, particularly in low-lying areas. Though we do not expect it to escalate to that extent, the Greater Chennai Corporation is ready to handle any situation,” the official said.
Weather blogger Raja Ramasamy said on ‘X’ that as the system moves northwards, southerly winds over the Chennai region may bring down the rainfall on December 20. However, on December 18 and 19, there could be moderate to heavy rainfall in the North TN coast, he said.