Chennai: Overnight rains lashed Chennai and nearby areas, and the India Meteorological Department on Tuesday said the low-pressure area is likely to turn well-marked soon. While civic authorities said there had been no water stagnation in subways in view of preventive maintenance, water logging was seen in several places, inconveniencing road users. Since Monday night, Chennai and its suburbs, including those falling under nearby Tiruvallur district, have been experiencing intermittent rains.
The IMD said in a post on 'X': "The low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal persisted over the same region at 23.30 hours IST yesterday, the 14th of October 2024. It is likely to move west-northwestwards and become a well-marked low-pressure area over central parts of the south Bay of Bengal by the morning of today, the 15th of October.
"Thereafter, it is likely to intensify into a depression and continue to move west-northwestwards towards north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts during subsequent 2 days". Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday took stock of the preparations and steps taken by authorities to tackle the situation that may arise in view of the heavy rain predicted by the met office.
The chief minister directed that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force be deployed in advance in the areas prone to be affected.
During the review meeting, the Greater Chennai Corporation officials informed that the civic body has readied 990 pumps, 57 tractors equipped with pump sets, and 36 mechanised boats to be used in case of any emergency. In addition, 46 MT bleaching powder and phenyl were available for sanitation purposes. About 169 fully equipped relief centers would become operational based on the situation.