CHENNAI: Friday has been yet another rainless day and it seems increasingly likely the ongoing monsoon will be the worst in decades. The abysmal first two months of the season have already passed. It was hoped that December would bring in rain. But the State till now recorded a rain deficit of 66%.
Of particular worry is the storage in four main water reservoirs: Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Red Hills and Cholavaram, which primarily cater to the city. While the combined capacity of all the four lakes is 11,057 million cubic feet (mcft), the current water storage of all four is just 1,122 mcft.
According to water managers, the current levels can supply the city at best for 2-3 months. The prime reason for this is the lack of enough rainfall in the catchment areas which feed the reservoirs.
It is in this context that the cyclonic storm ‘Vardah’, which means Rose in Arabic and Urdu, is being watched keenly.
The cyclone, which is currently threatening the Andaman Islands, is moving northwestwards and is at a distance of about 990km southeast of Visakhapatnam. A met official said, “The system is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours. The cyclone is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Kakinada by December 12,” adding that there was a possibility of slight weakening of the cyclonic system before its landfall.
The catch is Tamil Nadu is not expected to get much rain from the cyclone. Met officials say they expect only the extreme northern regions of the State, which includes Chennai, to come under its influence.
“Based on our models, the cyclone’s expected path doesn’t indicate Tamil Nadu would be covered,” an official said.