Trees uprooted as rains lash Chennai

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Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds on Friday night brought down nine trees and branches in the city. With this in the last week alone, the city has lost over 40 trees in rain-related damage.

Strong winds have either uprooted or damaged trees in a few areas, including the Madras High Court, near Flower Bazaar police station, Anna Nagar Second Street and near Periyar Nagar hospital.

Branches of three trees in the Madras high court premises snapped following Friday’s rains. fire and rescue service personnel stationed there removed them.

A car was also damaged on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai in Thirunagar when a bus shelter crashed on it after a branch fell on it.

According to honorary tree warden and civic activist K. Ramadoss, the trees in the city roads are being choked to death as the base of avenue trees are completely covered with tar or concrete slabs which do not allow aeration or water to percolate into the ground to reach the roots.

“Sometimes roots get cut when roads are dug for storm water drain works etc, resulting in the root system becoming weak,” he said.

Mr Ramadoss recalled that in 2003, chief minister Jayalalithaa had directed the Chennai corporation and the Highways department to provide adequate space at the base of avenue trees.

“But it remains only in paper. If the order is implemented properly, falling of trees due to rain or windy conditions could have been avoided in the city and its suburbs,” he said.

Wet weather to continue in Chennai: Met dept

Chennaiites can expect a few spells of rain over the next few days that may include some heavy-duty thunder and lightning as well.

With an increase in the cloud activity, the Met department has predicted a thunderstorm, but the showers will not persist for more than two days.

“The city received a fairly good amount of rain on Friday thanks to the heavy cloud formation over Northern Tamil Nadu.

We can expect heavy thunder showers for a couple of days,” said officials from the Meteorological department.

Due to the shift in heat waves, coastal areas such as Tamil Nadu and Puducherry have been experiencing thunder and heavy showers.

“The entire state will continue to receive good rainfall. The models indicate moderate rainfall over Tamil Nadu for the next two to three days but it will be isolated and scattered over the state,” said officials.

Following the heavy showers on Friday night, which lasted well into Saturday morning, normal life was thrown out of gear with water stagnating and traffic coming to a standstill in various parts of the city.

The skies remained partly cloudy on Saturday and the temperature dropped to 31°C. While Nungambakkam recorded 53.3 mm rain, Meenambakkam received 37 mm. City outskirts like Puzhal got 55 mm of rainfall and Tambaram received 38 mm.

Meanwhile the water levels increased at Poondi, Chembarambakkam and Red Hills reservoirs.