At least five persons died and as many as 538 huts and four houses have been completely damaged in Tamil Nadu due to incessant rains. The state’s revenue and disaster management minister KKSSR Ramachandran is worried about more losses. “More damage is expected if rain intensifies,” the Minister said. The Tamil Nadu government declared local holidays on 10 and 11 November for nine districts—Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, and Mayiladuthurai—after the weather department predicted heavy rains for the next couple of days.
Tamil Nadu received an average rainfall of 16.84 mm in the last 24 hours. Chengalpet district received the highest, Ramachandran said. The minister said Chennai Corporation is pumping out water from low-lying areas as the state received less rainfall on Tuesday. Rescue operation is underway by Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Tamil Nadu Fire and others, he said. In Chennai, more nodal officers are posted for review and rescue operations, he further added.
The Madras High Court on Tuesday warned the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) that it would take up a suo motu public interest litigation petition regarding the travails faced by residents of Chennai due to rainwater logging, if the situation does not improve by Friday or Saturday. Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P.D. Audikesavalu broached the subject during the hearing of a case related to GCC. The judges asked the GCC counsel, Kartika Ashok, as to what the civic body was doing in the last five years since the city was battered by floods in 2015. The Chief Justice said the Corporation ought to have taken corrective measures and made sure that the city does not float during heavy rains. He said, in all fairness, the city should not have been facing the situation that it was facing now with many localities remaining inundated.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted that a low-pressure area formed under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over the southeast Bay of Bengal will likely reach near the north coast of Tamil Nadu early on Thursday morning (11 November) after concentrating into a depression. “Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation over southeast Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood, a low-pressure area has formed over the same region. Associated cyclonic circulation extends upto mid-tropospheric levels,” the IMD tweeted. “It is very likely to concentrate into a Depression over Southwest and adjoining Southeast Bay of Bengal during next 36 hours.”