Intermittent rains will continue till Saturday in the city and its suburbs. An upper air cyclonic circulation over Gulf of Mannar is expected to bring rainfall over most parts of the State.
On Thursday, automatic rain gauges in places such as Anna University, Puzhal, Kolapakkam and Poonamallee registered nearly 3 cm of rainfall. The weather observatories at Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded rainfall of 2 cm and 3 cm, respectively, between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m.
S. Balachandran, director, Cyclone Warning Research Centre, Regional Meteorological Centre, said, “This weather system will bring more rainfall to places in south Tamil Nadu. We are expecting heavy to very heavy rainfall exceeding 12 cm in a few places in southern parts of the State. Some coastal areas in north Tamil Nadu will experience rainfall of between 6 cm and 12 cm on Friday.”
Waterways clearedAmid the intermittent, sharp showers, over 40 machines are involved in desilting the city waterways covering a distance of about 200 km. However, the Water Resources Department (WRD) is facing challenges in cleaning the canals.
On an average, about 30 loads of garbage found floating in the canals are being removed daily. The department has identified stretches where the problem is acute and represented the issue to the Chennai Corporation.
“Commercial establishments often dump garbage in waterways such as the Velachery lake surplus course near Vijaya Nagar, Central Buckingham Canal, Adyar river near Jaffarkhanpet, and the Thanikachalam Nagar drain near Retteri junction. We have informed and discussed the issue with the Corporation,” said a WRD official, adding that the problem however continued.
The estuaries of Adyar, Cooum rivers and South Buckingham Canal near Muttukadu and Pudupattinam are being dredged to allow better flow of river water. “About 50 loads of sand are removed daily and are levelled close by. We otherwise need environmental clearance to convey the extracted sand to other places,” the official added.
Floating machinery has been permanently deployed on stretches including Cooum River near Island grounds and Stephenson Road bridge, near Pulianthope, to clear floating waste. The work will continue till the year-end.
