The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued analert for Tamil Nadu. The state is predicted to receive heavy rain in severaldistricts on Sunday and for the next few days.
Heavy rain are expected to lash Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram,Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Villupuram, Cuddalore,Nilgiris, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Kallakuruchi, Tiruvanamalai, and Tiruchy.
The IMD has predicted that a low-pressure area is likelyto move towards north Tamil Nadu in the next two days and rains will continueto increase in the state's north coastal region on November 11 and 12.
Officials said that heavy to very heavy rain are expectedin Chennai and surrounding areas from November 10.
Chennai is already reeling under heavy rains for the pastfew days and people are being shifted from low-lying areas of the cityincluding Anna Nagar.
However, weather predicting radars at Karaikal andChennai have gone offline following some technical snags, giving a blow to theweather prediction.
Sources in the IMD told IANS that until the Karaikalradar is cleared of its technical snag, the stretch of area from Puducherry toThoothukudi is in a 'blind spot' and this has to be rectified immediately.
S. Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology,told media persons that a team has already arrived to repair the Karaikal radarand the snag would be rectified soon.
However, the senior scientist said that this would notaffect weather forecasting as there are satellite images, balloon data, andother tools to provide exact and accurate forecasts.
The IMD is depending presently on the radar at theNational Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). However, there is scepticismamong the scientific community and weather forecasters that this is an X-bandradar, with a maximum range of only 150 km to 200 km.
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is likely to visit theinundated areas of Chennai on Sunday and has directed officials to monitor thestorage levels of dams closely.