Tamil Nadu braces for heavy northeast monsoon, red alert in eight districts

As the northeast monsoon intensified over Tamil Nadu, the regional weather office issued a heavy rainfall alert on Tuesday, 21 October, for several districts.

Chief minister M.K. Stalin reviewed the situation with officials, instructing that precautionary measures be implemented in anticipation of the downpour. He also directed the deputation of IAS officers as monitoring officers to districts under heavy rain alerts.

The Regional Meteorological Centre reported a low pressure area forming over the Bay of Bengal at around 5.30 am IST on 21 October, which intensified into a well marked low pressure area by 8.30 am.

This system is expected to move west-northwestwards and concentrate into a depression off the north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and south Andhra Pradesh coasts by the afternoon of Wednesday, 22 October, continuing to intensify over the subsequent 24 hours.

Red alerts were issued for eight districts — Villupuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvallur, Thanjavur, Pudukottai, and Ramanathapuram — and an orange alert for Chennai, even as widespread rains lashed large parts of the state. Similar alert levels were issued for the neighbouring Union Territory of Puducherry.

Heavy rain is likely across the entire north coastal belt, with extremely heavy rain, exceeding 20 centimetres in 24 hours, expected in the districts under red alert.

The orange alert areas, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Kallakurichi, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanyakumari, are forecast to receive very heavy rainfall between 11 and 20 centimetres.

In Chennai, CM Stalin held a video conference with district collectors, urging readiness of relief camps with adequate provisions of food, drinking water, and medicine.

To mitigate damage, he advised preparedness with equipment such as JCB machines, boats, motor pumps, trucks, and saws. Monitoring officers will coordinate relief and precautionary efforts in affected districts, including Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur in northern Tamil Nadu, and Thanjavur and Tiruvarur in the Delta region.

Deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin inspected infrastructure projects in south Chennai focused on waterway improvements for efficient floodwater discharge.

These efforts include deepening and widening channels, constructing covered concrete canals, stormwater drains, and desilting estuarine areas. Notably, the Okkiam Madhavi canal work, costing Rs 27 crore, and desilting in Kannagi Nagar are in progress.

Relentless rains around Ambasamudram in Tirunelveli district have severely impacted thousands of acres of paddy crop harvesting. A local farmer Subramaniam of Kakanallur village noted that the continuous monsoon rains left little time for harvest, with ripe paddy standing flooded in the fields.

He appealed to the government to enable doorstep procurement of rice immediately after harvesting to alleviate farmers’ burdens, pointing out that many could not collect even the paddy they managed to harvest due to the early onset of the Northeast monsoon.

These developments underline the severe socio-economic impact of this year’s early and intense monsoon rainfall in Tamil Nadu, calling for coordinated government action and preparedness to safeguard lives, agriculture, and infrastructure.

With PTI inputs