CHENNAI, Oct 22:
The Greater Chennai Corporation is prepared to handle extremely heavy rainfall, including situations in which intense rain continues for several hours, Corporation Commissioner G.S. Sameeran said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters about the city’s rain preparedness, Sameeran said the northeast monsoon had been favourable so far, but weather conditions could bring exceptionally heavy rainfall due to a depression or other weather systems. The State and National Disaster Response Force personnel were kept ready to respond to emergencies.
He said Chief Minister Vijay had chaired a review meeting and issued instructions to strengthen preparedness. The Corporation was continuously monitoring rainfall and taking precautionary measures to tackle waterlogging, fallen trees and other rain-related problems.
Sameeran said that 1,212 complaints related to rain had been received till 5 am on Wednesday. The complaints included water stagnation, damaged streetlights and fallen trees. Officials had acted on the complaints, cleared fallen trees to restore traffic and were attending to streetlight repairs. Staff had also been instructed to complete the work and send photographs to senior officials as proof.
The Commissioner said continuous extremely heavy rain for around 14 hours would pose a major challenge, but the Corporation was ready to deal with such a situation. He appealed to residents to cooperate with authorities and avoid unnecessary travel during intense rainfall.