CHENNAI: At least four people died and more than 45,000 hectares of paddy, sugarcane and banana crops went under water across delta districts due to record rainfall in Tamil Nadu over the past two days.
While Chellapapappa (55), wife of Murugaiyan, of Nedungulam village in Thanjavur district, died on Sunday after the wall of her rain-soaked house crashed on her, K Ravichandran (42) of Komalappettai near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district died of electrocution suspected to have been triggered by the downpour. Singaravel, a 55-year-old farmer in Salem, died after he came into contact with a snapped power line in his field on Saturday. Settu, a 45-year-old mason in Tiruvannamalai, died on Saturday in a wall collapse.
Chief Minister M K Stalin told reporters in Chennai on Sunday he will visit Sirkazhi on Monday (November 14) to take stock of the situation. The town in Mayiladuthurai district received a record 44cm rainfall in 24 hours on Saturday. According to revenue department sources, a total of 16,807 people have been sheltered in 38 relief centres in Chengalpattu, Mayiladuthurai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Theni, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts.
83 head of cattle dead
Steps are on to drain rainwater from 45,826 hectares of land in 24 districts, sources said. At least 83 cattle have died and 538 huts were damaged over the last two days. Steps have been taken to provide Rs. 4 lakh solatium to the families of victims who lost their lives. Cash relief will also be given to owners of dead cattle and for damaged huts, sources said.
A total of 1,149 National Disaster Reponse Force (NDRF) and 899 State Disaster Reponse Force (SDRF) personnel are on standby. About 121 multipurpose shelters and 5,093 relief centres are also kept ready across the state. Three NDRF teams have been sent to Nilgiris, Dindigul and Theni districts to carry out search, rescue and relief work.
Five SDRF teams have been stationed in Cuddalore, Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Mayiladuthurai districts. Minister for revenue and disaster management KKSSR Ramachandran on Sunday visited the State Emergency Operation Centre in Chennai and held discussion with authorities. According to a statement issued by the revenue department, 37 districts recorded an average of 19.14mm of rainfall on Saturday.
While Kancheepuram district received the highest of 68.17mm rain, Uthiramerur in Kancheepuram district, Tiruttani in Tiruvallur, and Kodumudi in Erode district received 169mm, 130mm and 117.60mm of rainfall. Chennai received 47.01mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8am on Sunday. Of the 37 districts, Villupuram, Theni, Dindigul, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Thiruvannamalai and Chengalpattu districts recorded between 64.50mm and 115.5mm of rainfall.
Electricity minister V Senthil Balaji said a special Tangedco team comprising of one chief engineer, two superintendent engineers, four executive engineers and 150 employees has been sent to the district to restore power supply at the earliest.
Low pressure on Nov 15-16
A new low pressure area over Bay of Bengal around November 16 may bring widespread rainfall over Andaman on November 15-16. It may intensify into depression.