Tamil Nadu and Chennai which got a brief respite from the North-East monsoon fury for the last two days are in for another bout of heavy rain, according to the Indian Meteorological Department. “Moderate to rather heavy rain will occur at many places over all the districts of coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on November 27, 28 and 29,” said the IMD forecast on Wednesday. The IMD’s forecast for November 28 and 29 is that of “very heavy rainfall” over coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
But the Climate Prediction Centre of the United States in its forecast has warned that the worst is not yet over for Tamil Nadu. According to the CPC forecast, the rain fury is expected to touch its peak from November 30 to December 6. Heavy rain has been forecast not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, two experts have come out calling for immediate restoration and repair of the storm water drains which are in a state of ruin. The low-lying areas in Chennai and suburbs were inundated by the floodwater as there were no facilities to drain out the surplus water either to reservoirs, aquifers or wells, according to Prof MS Swaminathan, agricultural scientist.
Prof Swaminathan has said that the flash floods were caused by lack of proper drainage arrangements. “Naturally occurring drains have become clogged and there is no way for the water to recede. Infiltration into the soil is also poor due to a variety of reasons including the hardening of the top soil,” the agricultural scientist said in a release to the media on Wednesday. Chennai’s troubles with the flash floods continued even on Wednesday though there were no rains since Tuesday morning. The traffic along the arterial roads remained affected due to potholes and washing away of certain portions of the roads.
According to Prof Swaminathan, a strategy should be developed by the State administration and corporation officials with the participation of local community to conserve the excess monsoon waters.
“The surplus water should be saved in aquifer, wells, ponds, reservoirs and other storage structure to overcome water scarcity in later months , thereby we can make the heavy rainfall a blessing instead of a curse,” said the professor.