CHENNAI: In a huge relief to Tamil Nadu, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday said the depression over the Bay of Bengal that was moving towards the State’s northern districts may not bring heavy rains as expected.
The IMD has lifted all the red alerts issued for districts, including Chennai, for Friday. Chennai now comes under a yellow alert, while all its neighbouring districts have no alert. Popular weather blogger Pradeep John termed the depression, which was expected to cross the coasts between Puducherry and Chennai early on Friday, as “an empty shell of pressure drop area with no clouds”. According to him, sudden spells of rain will continue in the city on Friday, but will not be threatening.
S Balachandran, deputy director general of meteorology, RMC told reporters on Thursday, “For Chennai, there may be occasional rains (on Friday).” It is now predicted that the rains may subside across the State from Friday. Also, there are chances that there won’t be a fresh spell of rain for at least one week. The districts in the belt from Vellore to Coimbatore have been given an orange alert on Friday. Schools and colleges in many of the north and central districts, and Puducherry will remain shut on the day.
On Thursday, Chennai escaped from the rain’s fury as Puducherry and Cuddalore took much of the beating. Puducherry recorded the highest rainfall of 15 cm between 8.30 am and 7.30 pm. While Cuddalore recorded 10.3 cm, Chennai received only 3.4 cm.
Weathermen say much of the rains the depression was carrying fell in these areas. Several residential colonies in and around Puducherry were inundated. The brief intense spells of rainfall Chennai received were not threatening enough to cause floods.
Meanwhile, a seven-member inter-ministerial team led by Rajiv Sharma, Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor, National Intelligence Grid, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, will be visiting the rain-affected areas in the State in a couple of days.Official sources said the team has been directed to visit TN immediately and submit its report within a week to the Disaster Management Division, Union Home Ministry.
Rainfall received
Puducherry 15 cm
Cuddalore 10.3 cm
Chennai 3.4 cm