A significant depression close to Chennai has caused continuous rainfall; a day off has been announced for schools and colleges in four districts on Tuesday :

CHENNAI: The cyclonic storm Ditwah, which downgraded to a deep depression on Sunday while dumping heavy rain in delta regions, neared Chennai’s shoreline on Monday, causing several parts of the city and surrounding areas to experience continuous rainfall since Sunday night.Due to the rainfall, the district collectors for Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur declared a holiday for schools and colleges on Tuesday.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai issued a weather forecast on Monday afternoon, indicating that heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in several areas of Tiruvallur and Chennai districts throughout Monday, while heavy rain may occur in isolated locations over Ranipet, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu districts. Additionally, the RMC indicated that light to moderate rains might occur in isolated spots across Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Tuesday as well.

According to the latest update, the deep depression (the remnant of the cyclonic storm) is moving northward slowly at a pace of 3 km per hour and was located at 11:30 am on Monday in the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjacent areas of the west central Bay of Bengal, approximately 50 km east-southeast of Chennai, 140 km northeast of Puducherry, and 160 km northeast of Cuddalore. The nearest distance of the deep depression's center from the coasts of north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry was around 35 km, as mentioned in the update.

The RMC also stated that the system will continue to progress slowly along the coasts of north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh, maintaining its deep depression intensity until Monday evening, after which it is expected to downgrade to a depression over the following 12 hours. By Monday evening, the system will be located no more than 30 km from the coast of Chennai.

In the 24-hour period concluding Monday morning, Mahabalipuram in the Chengalpattu district recorded the highest rainfall of 6 cm, as reported by the RMC. Numerous locations in Chennai, along with a few areas in Cuddalore and Chengalpattu districts, experienced rainfall amounts ranging from 3 to 4 cm.

As no holidays were announced for schools in these districts, particularly in Chennai, both students and parents encountered difficulties commuting to school in various parts of the city.

The Greater Chennai Corporation reported that most areas of the city remained free from flooding. Minor stagnation in certain parts of Manali, Tondiarpet, and Adyar is being managed through the use of pumps, as stated by the civic body.