Heavy rain in Chennai causes traffic jams

Traffic moved at a snail’s pace, and commuters faced severe road jams as rains lashed parts of the Chennai district. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai has forecasted rains over various districts in Tamil Nadu for the next seven days. The RMC also predicted heavy rains at isolated places over ten districts of the state for Sunday. “Heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvallur, Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, and Tirunelveli districts and Puducherry,” it said. Earlier on Saturday, heavy rainfall in the Western Ghats caused a flash flood at the Old Courtallam Falls at the foothills of the mountain range in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi. Due to this flooding, tourists are prohibited from bathing near the waterbodies adjacent to the Old Courtallam Falls, which is a major tourist attraction in the district, an official said. Several tourists visited the waterfalls, but many said they were disappointed to find out that they were not allowed to bathe in the water body since Saturday is a weekend.