The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rain likely till tomorrow

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Sunday, Nov 21, 2010
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Rain likely till tomorrow

Staff Reporter

Traffic movement on arterial roads affected

— Photo: S.S. Kumar

Water-logged: A scene on 4th Avenue Road, Ashok Nagar, following the showers on Saturday.

CHENNAI: Rain that lashed many parts of Chennai and its suburbs on Saturday is likely to continue till Monday.

According to Meteorological Department officials, a trough extending from the Gulf of Mannar to southwest bay across Palk Strait contributed to the showers. On Saturday, the observatories at Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 39.7 mm and 27.7 mm of rainfall respectively during the 12-hour period ending 8.30 p.m.

Traffic movement was slow on arterial roads as several stretches were water-logged. Many localities in T.Nagar, Kellys, Anna Nagar, Peravallur, Villivakkam, K.K. Nagar, Velachery, and Koyambedu were inundated due to intermittent showers during the day.

Motorists complained that it was increasingly becoming difficult to negotiate potholed stretches as showers over the past few days had washed away blacktopping on various roads.

Reservoirs filling up

Meanwhile, the level in the reservoirs at Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, which cater to city's water needs, is nearing full capacity. On Saturday, Poondi reservoir received nearly 2,238 cubic feet of water per second. Its water level stood at 33.8 ft against the capacity of 35 ft.

According to Water Resources Department officials, the inflow from the catchment areas and discharge of Krishna water from Kandaleru reservoir has decreased. Water received in the reservoir is being diverted to the other three reservoirs. At present, the water body in Poondi is having storage of 2,755 million cubic feet (mcft) against its capacity of 3,231 mcft.

“We could step up storage up to 3,000 mcft in the four reservoirs. We have informed various government agencies about the rising level in the water bodies. If the inflow to the reservoirs increases, a decision on releasing surplus water would be taken,” said a WRD official.

The combined storage of the four reservoirs stood at 7,452 mcft as against their total capacity of 11,057 mcft. About 200 mcft of water has been added to the storage of reservoirs on Saturday, which is sufficient to supply Chennai for 10 days.

The Meteorological Department forecast that the city would receive few spells of rain or thundershower, heavy in some areas on Sunday.

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