Traffic snarls hit Chennai: Tambaram’s 15 cm rain highest since 2015

CHENNAI: Following heavy overnight rain which lashed Chennai and the neighboring districts on Thursday, all schools in Kanchipuram, Chengalpet, Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur remain shut on Thursday. The IMD has further predicted moderate to heavy rain for the next two days.

Notably, Tambaram recorded the highest amount of rainfall (15 cm) on Thursday, reportedly the highest after the infamous 2015 floods. Pallavaram, Chrompet, and Selaiyur were among the regions which received heavy early morning rainfall (between 3 am and 6 am).

The brief rainfall, however, resulted in traffic snarls throughout the city and roads in Tambaram east and west, Perungalathur, Theerthangaranai, Sembakkam, Pallavaram, Chrompet, Anakhaputhur, Pammal, and Selayur were badly damaged and flooded. Several houses in Krishnanagar and Shakthi Nagar areas in Tambaram West and Arul Nagar and CST Nagar in Tambaram East were submerged in the water. According to sources, rescue personnel did not respond promptly to the residents’ distress calls. It was the youngsters and local body election candidates in these areas who came forward voluntarily and cleared the waterlog said the source.

The MTC buses commuting by the Tambaram -Velachery road were reportedly delayed by at least two and half hours due to the deluge.
The relatively new Perungalathur subway too was entirely submerged in water, causing major woes for passengers. The subway was opened to the public in February this year and was built at Rs 3.9 crores.

Sources also informed that platforms 3 and 4 of the Tambaram railway station were entirely flooded, resulting in a delay in the services of EMU and express trains along this route. The railway authorities reportedly pumped out the water using motors and cleared the tracks, after which the services resumed. Traffic along GST road was particularly heavily affected.

The rain also caused inconvenience to patients at the Chromepet government hospital and the Sanatorium TB hospital. With rainwater having entered outpatient department, patients reportedly had no space to sit.

Meanwhile, an electric post at Thiruvencherry caught on fire due to a short circuit of the cable wire. The EB officials were reportedly called in and the power supply in the area was shut down for a long time, while the officials put out the fire.

“For the next 48 hours, the sky condition is likely to be generally cloudy. Maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 31 and 25 deg Celsius respectively”, read a Regional Met department forecast.