CHENNAI/NAGAPATTINAM/CUDDALORE: For the coastal districts already reeling under monsoon showers, the Met office on Wednesday promised no respite. “Chennai will receive high rainfall in spells. The coastal districts will also receive bursts of heavy rainfall,” said S Balachandran, director of the Area Cyclone Warning Centre.
The downpour also ate up vast sections of Cuddalore roads, inundated Keezaiyur and Thalaynayar (Nagapattinam) farmlands and forced the evacuation of 1,500 people near Sirkazhi after breaches in a canal.
After three days of incessant rain, roads in Cuddalore and Chidambaram developed big potholes. The worst hit is the busy Jawans Bhavan Road at Kammiyampettai that connects Chidambaram with Puducherry. Lack of streetlight along this stretch has turned the road into a nightmare. A wall also reportedly collapsed in the Thanjavur-Thiruvarur region though there was no casualty.
For farmers in Nagapattinam district whose crops are currently submerged in rainwater, it was a double whammy. Locusts had ravaged an earlier batch of crops. “We started preparation in August and sowed seeds in the first week of September. As crops started to grow, locusts ravaged them. We removed the damaged crops and again sowed, using Ko-51-type midterm seeds in the first week of October. Now, rain has damaged the 20-day crop,”S Sridhar, treasurer, Tamilaga Cauvery Vivasaayigal Sangam, said. Because of sowing twice, the farmers in Nagapattinam estimated a loss of around `34 crore.
Crops weren’t the only ones to be affected. Around 1,500 people were evacuated following breaches in the Thirunagari irrigation canal at Vai-theeswarankoil of Sirkazhi on Tuesday. The canal originates at Uppanar river from Marudhangudi in Cuddalore and irrigates at least 2,000 hectares.
Eye on the sky
Schools to remain closed today
The Collectors of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur have announced that schools in their respective districts will remain closed on Thursday (November 2) due to the heavy rain
Ponneri and Cuddalore receive max rainfall
Ponneri in Tiruvallur district recorded the maximum rainfall of 10 cm on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Cuddalore district received 9 cm, and Marakkanam in Villupuram district received 6 cm