Date:27/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/27/stories/2006102704230400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Low pressure trough brings heavy rainfall in State

Special Correspondent

Coastal districts will continue to receive widespread rain

ADDING TO RESIDENTS' WOES : Rain water stagnating under a railway bridge at Thanjavur on Thursday. — Photo: M. Srinath

CHENNAI: Several places in the State experienced heavy rain on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning as the trough of low pressure persisted over the southwest bay.

According to the Meteorological office, the coastal districts may continue to receive widespread rainfall while interior parts of the State are expected to witness fairly widespread rainfall on Friday.

Thanks to the vigorous northeast monsoon, most places of the State received rain. Northern coastal districts and the composite Thanjavur district witnessed heavy rainfall.

Some areas that received high amounts of rainfall were in and around Chennai. Tamaraipakkam, one of the catchments for the city reservoirs, recorded 15 cm while Meenambakkam and Red Hills received 14 cm each. Sriperumpudur, Tambaram, Ponneri and Tiruvallur recorded 11 cm each, whereas Sirkazhi, Parangipettai and Ramanthapuram received 10 cm.

In the Cauvery delta, Nannilam registered 8 cm while Thiruthuraipoondi, Papanasam, Kumbakonam and Pattukottai received 7 cm each. Nagapattinam and Thanjavur recorded 5 cm and 4 cm respectively. Authorities stopped the release of water from the Mettur dam to the delta for irrigation.

In Cuddalore district, the Veeranam tank, which supplements the water supply to Chennai, and the Lower Anicut, which feeds the tank, recorded 8 cm each.

The intensity of rainfall was less in southern districts. Papanasam and Manimuthar, dams located in the Tirunelveli district, recorded 3 cm each.

Water level

Many reservoirs recorded considerable inflow on Thursday. Mettur, the lifeline of the State, received about 8,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs). Its water level was 94.25 ft (120 ft) with storage of 57.64 thousand million cubic feet (capacity: 93.47 tmcft).

The details of inflows and storage of different reservoirs were: Bhavanisagar - 2,530 cusecs and 27.026 tmcft (capacity: 32.8 tmcft); Amaravathi - 580 cusecs and 782 million cubic feet (4.047 tmcft); Vaigai - 1,143 cusecs and 4.036 tmcft (6.091 tmcft); Papanasam - 1,928 cusecs and 2.480 tmcft (5,500 tmcft); Manimuthar - 968 cusecs and 1.475 tmcft (5.511 tmcft); Pechiparai - 578 cusecs and 3.550 tmcft (4.450 tmcft); Perunchani - 420 cusecs and 2.335 tmcft (2.89 tmcft); Krishnagiri - 64 cusecs and 687 mcft (1.666 tmcft); Sathanur - 104 cusecs and 1.864 tmcft (7.321 tmcft).

Sholayar - 466 cusecs and 4.83 tmcft (5.052 tmcft); Parambikulam - 1,044 cusecs and 13.201 tmcft (13.408 tmcft); Aliyar - 225 cusecs and 3.504 tmcft (3.864 tmcft) and Thirumurthy - 854 cusecs and 980 mcft (1.744 tmcft).