Mettur Water Level: Sunday, Nov 15, 2009

The water level in the Mettur dam stood at 83.82 feet on Saturday against its full level of 120 feet. The inflow was 9,219 cusecs and the discharge, nil.

From THE HINDU

Periyar Dam Water Level : Saturday, Nov 14, 2009

MADURAI: Water level in the Periyar dam on Friday stood at 133 feet (full level 136 feet) with an inflow of 1,595 cusecs and a discharge of 1,471 cusecs.

The level in the Vaigai dam was 68.70 feet (71 feet) with an inflow of 2,226 cusecs and a discharge of 1,860 cusecs. The combined Periyar credit stood at 7,388 mcft.

From THE HINDU

Mettur Level: Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009

TIRUCHI: The water level in the Mettur Dam stood at 78.2 feet on Monday, against its full level of 120 feet. The inflow was 10,647 cusecs and the discharge, nil.

From THE HINDU

Chennai: It was a near repeat of last year’s monsoon

CHENNAI: As residents of the city reeled under heavy downpour, resulting in slow moving traffic, battered roads and unannounced power cuts on Saturday, the Chennai Corporation’s version that it had desilted 90 per cent of the stormwater drains were laid bare. It was a near repeat of last year’s monsoon in many localities and the roads went under several feet of water.

During the 12 hours ending 8.30 p.m., Nungambakkam recorded 83.7 mm of rainfall and Meenambakkam 96.3 mm. Weather officials forecast more intermittent rain, including heavy spells.

SHADES ALL THE WAY: Right from the young woman hurrying to work on Anna Salai, to commuters rushing out of Park station, all had to brave the brunt of the rain on Saturday. Amid the downpour, however, this man in Ambattur stuck to his daily chore of fetching potable water. — Photos: R. Ravindran, R.Ragu and K. Pichumani

Depression likely

The Meteorological Department said Saturday’s low pressure area has now developed into a well-marked low pressure area over the Cape Comorin. The system is likely to intensify into a depression.

In many parts of the city, people waded through knee-deep or waist-high water. Many of them fell into potholes and sustained injuries. Power supply was suspended in slum areas in north and south Chennai which were inundated, a Tamil Nadu Electricity Board source said.

Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and Mayor M. Subramanian visited G.N. Chetty Road in T. Nagar, Ayodhya Nagar off Kamarajar Salai, and some parts of Choolai.

By evening, Corporation officials said 60,000 food packets were distributed to people living in flooded areas in Tondiarpet, Pulianthope and Nungambakkam zones. The civic body also conducted health camps in all 10 zones and would be distributing chlorine tablets.

The four reservoirs supplying water to the city have been receiving good inflow over the past few days. Chembarambakkam received the highest inflow with 2,153 cubic feet per second till 6 a.m. on Saturday.

Officials of the Chennai Metrowater said the reservoirs received an additional storage of about 270 million cubic feet from rainfall alone. This is equivalent to nine days’ supply to the city. The possibility of inundation in areas surrounding the Porur Lake is slim since water from Chembarambakkam would be released only if there is surplus in the reservoir, officials said.

But, the monsoon was a nightmare for many residents as stagnant water threw life out of gear. Roadside mechanics were seen busy repairing two-wheelers that got stuck. At the Tirumangalam Police Station, the personnel worked in knee-deep water as the station was flooded.

About 3,000 residents of Gnanamurthy Nagar in Ambattur Municipal limits watched helplessly as water entered their homes on Friday afternoon. The residents’ welfare association secretary, M.R. Chockalingam, said, “Last year we had a similar problem and the Chief Secretary visited the area then. The problem is because 200 Feet Road is being laid from Maduravoyal to Madhavaram. There is no proper provision to drain water into the Korattur Lake.”

The story was the same for residents of several localities in west Velachery such as AGS Staff Colony, where the roads went under sheets of water. As water entered many houses, residents planned to move away to safer locations, officials of the civic body listed the proposed measures to avoid such situation, something that they had said last monsoon too. While the residents wanted quick solution to tide over the problems, the officials spoke about a tender under consideration to channel out the water.

S. Kumararaja, a resident of Annai Indira Nagar in Velachery, said that several low-level areas including VGP Selva Nagar, Sarathi Nagar Extension and Anna Nagar have been flooded. More than two feet of water on the road had forced residents to remain indoors.

Important roads such as G.N.Chetty Road, Purasawalkam High Road, Anna Nagar Belly Area, near the Koyambedu junction, and areas such as Tondiarpet, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Tirumangalam and Vyasarpadi were inundated. But, it was business as usual on Ranganathan Street.

At Kodungaiyur dump yard, braving the rain and the stench of rotting garbage, a few children hunted for empty liquor bottles and iron scrap. Ten-year-old Sridhar said, “I am used to the rain. My house is just across the road.”

In several ration shops in North Chennai, large groups of women and elderly men waited in queues to buy kerosene. Muthulakshmi, a homemaker and resident of Manali, said that as she had lost her ration card, she had to buy kerosene from private shops.

Teenagers Ashok and John, students of class X, said their parents had moved in with relatives on Friday as their huts on Ennore Expressway in Tiruvottiyur were submerged. The children stayed back to safeguard the belongings. At Palagaithotti Kuppam, fishermen said they would not venture into the sea as it was rough.

The situation was bad at the MRTS railway stations. Leaky roofs in Mandaveli and Indira Nagar stations and stagnant water in Kasturba Nagar Station compounded the woes of commuters. At least four long-distance trains that arrived in the morning at the Egmore and Central stations were delayed by over three hours due to the rain.

Despite the heavy rain in the southern suburbs, motorists were not trapped in traffic snarls as it was a lean day, police said.

Officials of the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply said municipality and town panchayat officials were instructed to identify and attend to problems in areas prone to water stagnation. Near Sembakkam bus stop, a trench was dug to drain stagnant water.

Residents protest

Officials of the State Highways Department said water from subways near Pazhavanthangal and St. Thomas Mount railway stations were being pumped out. When residents living around the St. Thomas Mount subway complained that the pumped out water had entered their localities, pumping out of water was stopped for three hours on Saturday afternoon. But, it was resumed after officials explained that the water would flow into the Adambakkam Lake.

(With inputs from R. Sujatha, K. Manikandan, K. Lakshmi, Vidya Venkat, R. Srikanth and Deepa H Ramakrishnan)

 From THE HINDU

Mettur Level: Sunday, Nov 08, 2009

The water level in the Mettur Dam stood at 76.43 feet on Saturday, against its full level of 120 feet. The inflow was 9,259 cusecs and the discharge, nil.

From THE HINDU