The Tamil Nadu government has directed the schools and colleges to stay closed in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts on Tuesday, as the state braces for heavy rains.
Chief Minister M K Stalin declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Chennai and surrounding districts for Tuesday, with further instructions for employees in the IT sector to work from home between October 15 and 18.
Chennai, along with the other north Tamil Nadu districts — Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur — are expected to receive up to 20 cm of rain in the next few days. This comes as the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has issued a red alert for several districts, warning of extremely heavy rainfall due to an emerging low-pressure system over the southeast Bay of Bengal, Indian Express reported.
Chennai city authorities have deployed 300 specially trained police officers to low-lying areas, and a temporary control room has been set up to coordinate efforts with civic bodies and emergency services.
The District Magistrates (DM) of the four districts also said that they were fully geared up to cope with the situation arising due to inundation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rain across Tamil Nadu over the next three days.
“Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal between October 12-16, with the most intense downpours likely on October 14-15. An orange alert has been issued from October 14-16,” the IMD said.
The weather system, currently identified as a cyclonic circulation over the southeast Bay of Bengal, is likely to intensify into a well-marked low-pressure area in the coming days. According to IMD, it is projected to move northwest towards northern Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and southern Andhra Pradesh by midweek.