Chennai receives 74% of annual rainfall in just 8 days

The rain, which started last Sunday, has claimed 12 lives till now. Forecast predicts more rains for coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry till Monday

After heavy downpour, rain has taken a break in Chennai and coastal districts. Saturday morning remained rain-free. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has predicted more rainfall for coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry till Monday.

The rain, which started last Sunday, has claimed 12 lives till now.

Since the northeast monsoon set-in on October 27, 554.2 mm rainfall has already been recorded this year, which is 74 per cent of the long-term average of 750 mm rainfall it receives annually in the rainy season. The IMD calculates the rainfall in the period between October 1 and December 15.  

Chennai had recorded 441.3 mm of rainfall (58.84 per cent of the seasonal average) till Friday from the northeast monsoon, Met office data showed. 

According to reports, Thursday's rain was Chennai's third-highest in history in a single day after 452.2mm in 1976 and 246.15 mm in 2015. 

Meanwhile, water stagnation continued in many parts of the city. Several localities reported flooding, especially on interior roads. For fifth day in a row, schools and colleges remained closed.

Meanwhile, storage levels of reservoirs supplying drinking water to the city have increaseding.

The combined storage of four reservoirs — Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam — which are the key resource for Chennai stood at 2,114 mcft (million cubic feet), as against the full combined capacity of 11057 mcft, according to data made available by the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board. 

The storage is likely to go up following the forecast of more rain, and with the ongoing north east monsoon scheduled to last till December.

Amidst allegation that state administration has not done anything after 2015 floods, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami listed out various flood-prevention as well as rehabilitation measures undertaken by his government. 

A stretch of 300 km, out of 386 km-long drain network project, has been completed at a cost of Rs 1,100 crore in Chennai, as announced by former and late J Jayalalithaa during her tenure, said the Chief Minister.