Barely a week after seeing off Cyclone Nivar, the city experienced heavy rain that began overnight and persisted through Thursday, leaving several low-lying areas inundated and disrupting traffic on the thoroughfares.
The Directorate of School Education has declared a holiday on Friday for all government and private schools in Puducherry.
“Waterlogging was reported from seven areas across the city and motor pumps were used to bale out the water,” S. Sivakumar, Commissioner, Puducherry Municipality, said.
Intense inundation was reported in Jothinagar, Maramalai Nagar 7th Cross, Sudhanagar on Thanthaperiar Street, Aravindhar Nagar on Siththar Street, Subhash Street in Nainarmandapam, Ganesh Nagar, Muthialpet and Kulathurthope.
Municipality staff had been deployed in the field since last night.
Some waterlogged areas in the city included Busy Street, La Bourdonnais Street and Pavalan Nagar in Boomianpet. However, the worst affected area was Sudhanagar, where three streets got submerged in water.
“As there were no winds unlike last week when the cyclone passed through, there were no reports of trees falling with the exception of the one tree that crashed on SV Patel Salai on Wednesday night,” the Commissioner said.
Though the rain weakened towards night, the municipality asked staff to be alert for complaints of waterlogging from residents if the rain revives, the Commissioner said.
Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi has asked officials to frame a SOP for incorporating all the good practices followed in coping with Cyclone Nivar.
The District Collector will lead the brainstorming with PWD, Municipality and other key departments to review and track flood-causing areas, both traditional and emerging ones.
Ms. Bedi has sought an expeditious finalisation of the SOP.
