Schools, colleges closed as rain lashes Kanyakumari
Officials release water from Chembarakkam lake; Stalin opens special medical camps, felicitates police officer for saving man during Chennai rains
Heavy rains that created immense trouble for the people of Chennai, have now moved to Kanyakumari in South Tamil Nadu.
In the wake of torrential rains since Thursday, the district collector has declared holidays for schools. Colleges too have been closed.
Several places in the district are inundated with water entering the homes in many low-lying areas.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), many parts of the district received an average rainfall of 77.2mm, while eight places recorded more than 100mm rains in the past 24 hours till Friday 8am.
Mambalathurayar, Poigai, and Mukkadal dams continue to overflow.
The water level in four other reservoirs is also rising due to incessant rains at the catchment areas.
Surulacode recorded the highest rainfall of (150mm) followed by Kannimar ( 136.88mm) and Perunchani (129.8mm).
Four other weather stations also recorded water levels above 100mm.
Heavy rains partially damaged eight houses in Vilavancode Taluk and one each in Thovalai and Tiruvatur taluks.
Water level in Mullaperiyar dam continues to increase and touched 138.95 feet on Friday morning.
Rains are lashing the southern districts of Tamil Nadu including Madurai, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Theni, and Ramanathapuram since Wednesday and continuing on Friday also.
Although the heavy rains have now stopped in Chennai, the residents are continuing to bear the brunt as their residences and localities are still waterlogged along with power cuts in several areas.
Rain in the city stopped as the depression over the Bay of Bengal crossed the coast near here on Thursday evening.
The government has declared holiday for schools and colleges located in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpatu districts due to waterlogging.
For those who were unaffected by the rain, many took selfies from over the Adyar bridge as the river below was flowing nearly touching the bridge.
As a precautionary measure, authorities continued to release water from the Chembarakkam lake that supplies water to the city.
Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated special medical camps as a preventive measure against disease spread. The Greater Chennai Corporation officials used boats in some parts to rescue the marooned people and provided them with food, grocery and medicines.
Big sized pumps are being used to pump out stagnant water while traffic in many places have been diverted.
Farmers in the Cauvery delta region had said their crops in thousands of acres were submerged due to rains and requested the state government to provide assistance.
PMK founder S Ramadoss said localities that were considered safe earlier were severely affected and people are not able to come out of their homes due to waterlogging.
“Being in ‘water jail’ for six-days will affect people psychologically,” he added.
Ramadoss said the government should provide financial assistance of Rs5,000 to those who were affected by the rain as many have lost their livelihoods.
Stalin on Friday felicitated woman police inspector E Rajeswari for saving a man during Chennai rains.
Stalin honoured Rajeswari at his camp office in the presence of senior Police officers of the state. In a message of appreciation, he underlined that she had realised the importance of the ‘golden hour’ and rushed Udhaykumar to a hospital.
Terming the officer’s sense of commitment and expression of compassion “commendable,” the Chief Minister also mentioned her act of rescuing several persons during a stampede in Mahamaham in Kumbakonam in 1992.
“Your actions on several occasions have been a helping hand for the downtrodden. Your recurring acts of rescuing destitute women and admiting them to government homes and bravely facing persons in conflict with the law have rightly received commendations from senior police officers and words of praise from the general public,” he said.
Stalin also said that Rajeswari’s timely action had drawn appreciation for the Tamil Nadu police and added to its reputation.