30 districts in TN had deficit rainfall so far during NE monsoon

CHENNAI: At least 30 districts in the state have received deficit rainfall till November 2 in the current Northeast monsoon season. An official communique issued after chief secretary Shiv Das Meena inspected the state emergency control centre here said that between October 1 and November 2, the state has recorded 110.8mm of rainfall, which is 40% less than the normal rainfall for the period.

During the current northeast monsoon season, only one district in the state has received a surplus, while 30 districts have received deficit rainfall till November 2. Only seven districts in the state have received normal rainfall so far, the official communique said.

According to the government release, major reservoirs in the state like Pechiparai, Perunjani, Krishnagiri and Sathanur besides Red Hills, Chembaramabakkam and Thervaikandigai have storage up to 75% of their capacity. The Chief Secretary said that as many as 12 teams comprising 400 personnel of the state disaster relief force have been kept on standby mode as a preventive measure at Palani in Dindigul, Manimutharu in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Trichy districts. During the inspection, a special demonstration on mobile phone message alerts sent to the people through common alert protocol was given to the chief secretary.

Adding that state and district emergency control centres equipped with toll free helpline numbers 1070 and 1077 were functioning 24x7 with additional officials, the release advised the people to reach out to the government and register their complaints using the whatsapp number 94458 69848. The chief secretary also had a discussion with the collectors of Cuddalore and Tirunelveli about the precautionary measures taken there in view of the heavy rain forecast from November 3 to 6.