New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said incessant rains in coastal parts of Tamil Nadu, which has thrown normal life out of gear, is likely to continue for three more days, and urged the people residing in low-lying areas to move to safer locations.
IMD Director General L S Rathore said that although the intensity of rain will lessen after 72 hours, but it will continue to pour for about a week.
“The rains in the coastal parts of South India especially, southern parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, coastal parts of Tami Nadu and Puducherry and in some interior parts of Tamil Nadu, are expected to continue. The intensity of rains might lessen after 72 hours but it will continue to rain for about a week more,” Rathore told media persons here.
“Recent data shows that northern coastal regions of Tamil Nadu has witnessed around 30-35 cms of rain. The reservoirs in the region are already full, because of which the water is filling the low-lying areas. We advise people in these regions to shift to safer locations,” he added.
He also said that the situation is looking grim as the rains are expected in southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well.
Many parts of Chennai and the suburbs have been flooded from the incessant rains that have hit the city in the past 24 hours, amidst the worst ever flood situation in Tamil Nadu.
The water has entered inside houses in the low-lying areas of Anna nagar and there is water-logging in almost every part of the city. The flight operations at the Chennai Airport have been closed for the whole day because of the flooded water on the runway.
Telephone services took a hit as several areas were cut-off due to water-logging.
“The uninterrupted rains have resulted in excessive water-logging and disruption of essential services causing power failure and impacting our services in some regions,” Bharti Televentures said in a statement.
“We at Airtel are relentlessly working with the local authorities to enable smooth mobile communication for Airtel customers across the city,” a company statement said.
Chennai and several coastal areas of the state were marooned in flood waters and the neighbouring districts cutting the state capital from rail and road links even as the airport was shutdown for the day.
Though the heavy rains, that lashed the city and the suburbs and neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore for more than a day on Tuesday have shown a let up since this morning, a continuous drizzle under overcast skies spelled further trouble for citizens.
Teams of army, navy, coast guard and NDRF have been deployed in the worst-affected areas of Tambaram, the southern gateway to the city, Mudichur and Oorapakkam.
Police and fire service personnel were also involved in rescue operations. The Coast Guard has deployed its boats in some areas in the city that has witnessed unprecedented rains in a short period of time in recent memory.
Teams have also been pressed into service in Jafarkhanpet, Saidapet and Kotturpuram on the banks of Adyar and Vadapalani and Valasaravakkam and several areas in the western parts of the city which have been flooded with waters entering residential homes.
The southern suburbs of Chennai including Velachery, Madipakkam and neighbouring areas which had suffered heavily in the earlier spells of rain in November were again hit badly by the downpour that has again flooded homes.
