Tamil Nadu Need To Prepare For Possibly Another Round Of Heavy Rains

While rain is expected to fall in most parts of the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in a few coastal areas of the state. On Wednesday and Thursday, significant rains of more than 20.4 cm may fall in one or two locations.

The cyclonic circulation that existed on Monday over the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjacent south Andaman Sea is still present, according to a bulletin. During the following 12 hours, a low pressure region is quite likely to emerge over the Southeast Bay of Bengal due to its impact. By Thursday, it is expected to move west– northwestwards, deepen into a depression, and hit the north Tennessee coast.

On Tuesday, Puducherry had 8 cm of rain, while Cheyyur in Chengalpet district received 7 cm. Many meteorological stations in and around Chennai experienced moderate to heavy rainfall until 5.30 a.m., including MRC Nagar, Meenambakkam, and Taramani (4 cm), Villivakkam (3 cm), and Ennore port (2 cm).

On Tuesday, the Meteorological Department predicts widespread rain. Thunderstorms with moderate rains are expected to hit Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Nagapattinam, Myladuthurai, Thiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, Sivaganga, Theni, Dindugul, Madurai, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and VirudHunagar districts, as well as Karaikal region

Meanwhile, around 10 a.m., water discharge from Poondi reservoir, one of Chennai's main drinking water sources, was boosted to 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) since more inflow is predicted by Tuesday evening.

The water body now has 2,706 million cubic feet (mcft) of storage versus a capacity of 3,231 mcft. The reservoir, which covers 34.58 square kilometres, receives 3,226 cubic metres of input from upstream catchment areas. Currently, the Water Resources Department is releasing 4,040 cusecs. This is being raised even more, since 1,000 cusecs of surplus water discharged from the Ammapalli dam in Andhra Pradesh is expected to reach the reservoir by Tuesday evening, and heavy rains are forecast for the rest of the week.