After rain waterlogging to haunt Chennaiites, Puducherry receives maximum rainfall in 24 hours

Chennai: While rain battered Puducherry and some areas of Cuddalore district under the influence of the depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal, Chennai received only a short but heavy spell of rain on Saturday.

The meteorological department has, however, forecast thunderstorms with some rain for Chennai over the next four days. ­“The city will experience only light rain for the next four or five days, ” said the weathermen.

But as the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal crossed the coast near Nagapattinam in the afternoon, the distr­ict bore the brunt as hundreds of trees were uprooted and banana plantations damaged in the area.

Electric posts in Sirkazhi and a fish auction hall in Vellapallam village near Tarang­ambadi were damaged in str­ong winds even as the roof of a school building was blown off in Darkas, Sirka­zhi. With the sea being rough over 10,000 fishermen preferred to stay at home for the day.

The corporation has been constructing SWDs under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to prevent water inundation during the rainy season. But sources at the corporation say that around 20 km of SWD works have been on hold for more than four months as the traffic department has not given its consent.

“The low-lying areas are concentrated and all our officials are working overtime to resolve issues ac­ross the city, but these pe­n­d­ing works are the only concern,” a senior official said.

A senior traffic wing official pointed out that the metro rail works were the reason behind the withheld permissions. “Many routes have been made one-way due to metro rail works. Due to the traffic congestion on these roads the SWD works cannot be carried out,” he added.

He also said that the corporation had failed to finish the SWD works in the summer and were getting stressed about it after the onset of the monsoon. “Even now we are giving permission for works wherever feasible,” he added.

“There are no problems for now as there is no stagnation. But it’s only when heavy rains hit the city that the corporation’s works can be evaluated,” said R. Raghavendhran, an IT employee.

Official sources said Pu­ducherry recorded 8.4 cm rainfall during the last 24 hours. Places such as Ra­inbow Nagar, Krishna Na­g­ar, Boomianpet and Paa­va­nan Nagar bore the brunt of the rain’s fury with fl­o­o­dwater entering houses. No­rmal life was thrown out of gear and office goers waded through shallow waters. Traffic was also affected due to water logging at different places.

Trees were uprooted in many places. Due to rough conditions, fishermen we­re advised not to venture into the sea. Local ad­m­i­nistration minister, N.G. Panneerselvam, also visited the rain-affected areas and ordered municipal au­thorities to initiate immediate steps to bale out wa­ter from the low-lying areas in Puducherry.

Meanwhile, the National Talent Search Exam (10th STD) and National Means-Cum-Merit Scholarship Ex­am (Std 8) have been postponed due to heavy ra­ins. Fresh dates will be in­timated soon, according to official sources.

Moderate to heavy rainfa­ll occurred in many places in Cuddalore district on Satur­d­ay. Annamalai Na­gar re­co­rd­ed a high of 86.80 mm foll­o­w­ed by Para­ng­i­pettai 53 mm, Cuddalore 37.60 mm and Chidam­ba­r­am 37 mm. Many trees we­re uprooted due to gusty wi­nds.

All the major water bodies in the district are br­imming with storage and PWD au­t­horities are monitoring the flood situation.