Rain holiday declared for schools in Chennai, surrounding districts: Details

With Chennai receiving heavy spells of rain on Monday, October 31, as a result of the northeast monsoon, a holiday has been declared for schools in the districts Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu for the day. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted that Chennai is likely to receive moderate rainfall with lightning and thunderstorms for five days between October 31 and November 4. Light to moderate rain is expected in various parts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal throughout the week, the bulletin said.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall was reported at isolated places over Tiruvallur, Ranipet and Kancheepuram on Monday. The IMD bulletin has also said that heavy rain is expected at isolated places over Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi, Tirupattur, Theni, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Theni and Dindigul on Tuesday.

With the onset of northeast monsoon rains, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has placed motor pumps in several parts of the city to pump water out of the residential areas in case of waterlogging. A control room has also been set up to mitigate challenges regarding flooding, the GCC said. Chennai residents have been asked to reach out to GCC officials through the helpline number 1913 to complain about flood-related issues.

In light of the heavy rains expected across the state, an orange warning is in place in seven districts, while a yellow warning has been issued for all other districts as of Monday morning. The orange warning is in place in Kanchipuram, Ranipettai, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem districts, as per the IMD website.