Rains that lashed several districts for the past week leaving several areas inundated may let up over the State from November 8. The Meteorological department expects the rainfall to subside after Tuesday.

The trough of low pressure over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka and equatorial Indian ocean is expected to weaken in a few days. While this may provide the much-needed relief for Chennai that has suffered waterlogging in many places, a fresh system brewing over the Bay may influence another rain spell after a hiatus, note officials of the Meteorological department.

On Monday, the city recorded only 5 mm of rainfall till 7 p.m. S. Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said many places in the coastal parts of the State, including Chennai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai would get moderate rainfall on Tuesday. Interior places, including Vellore, Virudhunagar, Dindigul and Madurai would also get rainfall.

“We expect heavy rainfall (between 7 cm and 11 cm) in a few places in south Tamil Nadu such as Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Theni and Kanyakumari on Tuesday. Chennai too will get a few spells of rain or thundershowers. This may be heavy at times in some areas,” he said.

Intense rainfall for the past few days has helped Meenambakkam inch closer to its average rainfall for the year. It has already received 130 cm so far against its yearly normal of 138 cm. The weather station in Nungambakkam has registered 116 cm of rainfall so far against its annual normal of 140 cm.

Call to prevent flooding

While more rain spells are expected in the city, the C.P.R.Environment Centre has suggested that the government must implement some simple measures to prevent inundation, which is becoming a recurring phenomenon in Chennai.

Besides desilting water bodies and 75 temple tanks in the city during summer, the surplus water in lakes in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts must be linked.

In a press release, Nanditha Krishna, the Centre’s honorary director, said use of plastic bags of thickness less than 40 microns must be curtailed as they clog waterways. The Pallikaranai marsh must be deepened to improve water holding capacity.

“Residents too must be prepared to prevent waterlogging. They should construct rainwater harvesting structures and maintain them. Interlocked tiles may be used for water percolation,” she said.