Heavy rain in TN & Puducherry, schools shut in three delta districts

Chennai, Nov 26 With heavy to extreme rainfall forecast for the Delta districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, educational institutions were closed on Tuesday.

The District Collectors of Mayiladuthurai and Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry have declared a holiday for schools and colleges in these regions for the day.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has issued a red alert for the districts of Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and Karaikal, predicting extremely heavy rainfall (over 20.4 cm) on Tuesday.

Additionally, a red alert was issued for Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, and Karaikal districts for Wednesday also.

This follows the intensification of a well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean into a depression on Monday. The depression is currently centred 530 km southeast of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka and 810 km southeast of Nagapattinam.

It is likely to move northwest and strengthen into a deep depression within the next 24 hours. In the subsequent two days, the depression is expected to move north-northwest towards the coasts of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.

The RMC has issued an orange alert for Villupuram, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Sivaganga districts, and Puducherry on Tuesday, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall (11.56 cm to 20.44 cm) at isolated locations.

A yellow alert has been issued for Ramanathapuram, Tiruchirappalli (Tiruchy), Perambalur, Kallakurichi, and Chengalpattu districts, where heavy rainfall (6.45 cm to 11.5 cm) is expected on Tuesday.

An orange alert was issued for Ariyalur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Villupuram, and Puducherry for Wednesday, while a yellow alert is in place in Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Tiruchy, Perambalur, Kallakurichi, Chengalpattu, Chennai, and Kancheepuram districts.

The RMC has also issued an advisory urging fishermen to avoid deep-sea fishing until November 28 due to the prevailing depression over the southern Bay of Bengal.

It is worth noting that Tamil Nadu has been receiving consistent rainfall since the monsoon began on October 17.

Nearly 90 reservoirs across the state are now over 60 per cent full. The reservoirs collectively hold 143.804 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water, which is 64.11 per cent of their total capacity of 224.297 tmcft.

This marks a significant improvement compared to the same period last year when the storage levels were at 79.514 tmcft (35.58 per cent). Notable increases include the Mettur Reservoir, currently holding 62,140 mcft -- reflecting a 384 per cent rise compared to 2023 -- and the Bhavani Sagar Reservoir, which now holds 21,141 tmcft, a 210 per cent increase from last year.