Heavy rains lash southern TN; red alert issued in 4 districts, schools closed

Heavy rains under the influence of a cyclonic circulation lashed southern Tamil Nadu through Sunday (December 17) night, inundating several areas in the southern districts and goading the government to issue a red alert in the four districts of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tenakasi.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclonic circulation currently lies over the Comorin area and its neighbourhood, extending up to mid-tropospheric levels. For Monday, the Regional Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rain at one or two places in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi districts and light to moderate rain at many places in south Tamil Nadu.

As the rains submerged several stretches of cities and railway tracks, a holiday was declared for educational institutions on Monday, while several trains were either fully or partially cancelled.

IMD said Thiruchendur in Tuticorin district recorded 606 mm of rainfall till 1.30 am on Monday.

Govt swings into action

The state government has swung into action, deploying ministers and senior bureaucrats for relief and rescue operations. A senior bureaucrat has been instructed to monitor each affected district.

Local authorities and police made arrangements for evacuating people from flooded and vulnerable areas to relief centres.

While two teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) comprising 50 personnel have been sent to Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts, three State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in Kanyakumari district.

That apart, 4,000 police personnel have been deployed in the four districts.

District collectors have also been instructed to keep boats and relief centres ready in the vulnerable areas for immediate evacuation and rehabilitation of affected people.

Thamirabarani river in spate

On Sunday, heavy rains lashed Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Tenkasi districts. Some regions recorded very heavy rainfall. Since Saturday, light to moderate rainfall was recorded at most places of southern Tamil Nadu.

Since the Thamirabarani river is in spate, Chief Minister M K Stalin directed authorities to release surplus water into the Kannadian channel, marking a dry run under a river-linking project in southern Tamil Nadu.

Surplus water is being released from Pechiparai, Perunjani and Papanasam dams and alert messages (SMS) have been sent to over two lakh local people.

Water entered houses in low-lying areas and vehicles were stranded in view of flooding. Water logging was also reported on the premises of a couple of state-run hospitals.

On Sunday, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena held a virtual meeting with district collectors of southern districts and tasked them to take appropriate preventive steps to tackle the situation due to rains. An official release said Stalin has ordered release of surplus water into the Kannadian channel which will carry flood water to arid regions in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, benefitting farmers.

The release of surplus water is a preparatory exercise under the Thamirabarani, Karumeniyaru and Nambiyaru (in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of Tamil Nadu) river-linking project, which is nearing completion.

On December 16, the cyclonic circulation was in the lower tropospheric levels over equatorial Indian Ocean and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal off the south Sri Lanka coast. From 16 December morning to 17 December morning, isolated, heavy to very heavy rain was recorded in Tirunelveli district. Also, isolated heavy rain was witnessed in Kanyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts. Nalumukku area in Tirunelveli district reported the highest rainfall of 19 cm during this period.

(With inputs from agencies)