Chennai: At last, after days of longing, Chennai received its fair share of rainfall from the rainiest month of the year not from a cyclone but from a mere low pressure area which has now prevented a monsoon failure in the city.
Met department said such rains are likely to continue for the next 24 hours when the low pressure area makes a landfall today. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami took a flight today evening to New Delhi for meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.
Right from yesterday afternoon, heavy rainfall lashed Chennai especially the southern and western parts with Meenambakkam and Chemberambakkam receiving 5 cm overnight. Many stretches got flooded. Though the intensity of showers got reduced thereafter, rains made a strong comeback today morning lashing most parts of the city till 10 am. As rains were heavy during peak hours, there were traffic bottlenecks throughout the city.
An official said, “The well-marked low pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to concentrate into a depression while crossing Tamilnadu coast today. In wake of this, isolated heavy to very heavy rain is likely to continue over Tamilnadu especially Chennai and its suburbs for the next 24 hours.”
As planned earlier, Palaniswami took a flight today evening to New Delhi. He will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow for seeking relief for cyclone hit areas. Sources revealed that he will be seeking funds to the tune of Rs 13,000 crore for undertaking relief and restoration measures in the affected districts.
State government passed a order stating that it has released Rs 1,000 crore for relief. Of the said amount, Rs 350 crore will be spent for restoring agricultural activities, Rs 200 crore for EB, Rs 205.87 crore for people and livestock, Rs 100 crore for houses and Rs 41.63 crore for fishing.
The State government also revealed that it has completed accessing the number of boats and fishing nets damaged by the cyclone.
Education Minister K A Sengottaiyan informed that schools in delta regions will start functioning tomorrow. He also added that students who lost their books to the cyclone will receive new ones by tomorrow evening.
Municipal Administration and Rural Development Minister S P Velumani today urged opposition parties to work with the government and stop ridiculing efforts.
Health Minister Vijayabhaskar said the affected areas with get back to normalcy in about two days as over 1,400 officials are working day in and out. Disaster Management Minister R B Udhayakumar assured that relief measures won’t get hit because of the continuing rains.
DMDK chief Vijayakanth today announced that his party will be handing over Rs one crore for relief in cyclone hit areas.
CAPTION: ‘WET’NESDAY SCENES
The city witnessed light to moderate showers in many areas, hitting normalcy. Scenes from Meenambakkam, Ashok Nagar and Kasimedu.
Photos by R Thiyagarajan, C Santhosh & P Muthukumar, V M Srinivasan, A R Jayakumar