12 people dead in Tamil Nadu rains, Schools and colleges in Chennai switch to online classes

Chennai:  Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management KKSSR Ramachandran has said that 12 people have died in various parts of the state due to heavy rain in the past three days. He said that 11 companies of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 7 companies of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in the rain-affected areas.

The minister told IANS on Wednesday: “The government is ready to face any eventuality due to rain and has already deployed 11 teams of NDRF in various parts of Chennai and adjoining districts while 7 companies of the State Disaster Response Force are ready to join the operations. Fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea following the IMD alert for the next three days and all 33,773 boats that were in the sea off Tamil Nadu coast are back home and no boat is in the sea now.”

The minister added that the state government has already mobilised 1.05 lakh volunteers including swimmers, snake catchers, and tree cutters for rescue and relief operations. Senior IAS and IPS officers have been deputed to monitor the functioning of district collectors and district superintendents of police.

He said that 12 IPS officers have been posted in Chennai for coordination and 15 IAS officers for each of the zones of Greater Chennai Corporation.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert in Chennai and adjoining districts for Thursday. The red alert is an indication that heavy to very heavy rain would lash the city and adjoining areas on Thursday.

The IMD in a statement on Wednesday said that a low-pressure system over the Bay would intensify into a deep depression and reach North Tamil Nadu coast by November 11. The red alert, according to IMD, is applicable to several coastal districts of the state as extremely heavy rain (200mm) is likely in the coastal areas of the state.

The IMD regional centre said that the well-marked low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to concentrate into a depression in the next 12 hours. This depression would move northwestwards and reach Northern Tamil Nadu by the early morning of November 11 leading to heavy showers in the area.

Schools and colleges in Chennai and adjoining districts that were functioning normally since October have now commenced switching over to online classes again after the state government declared holidays following heavy rain.

The government has declared holidays in Chennai and adjoining districts and the principals and teachers do not want the children to face a gap in their studies again due to the festival holidays and now due to rains.

Sudhakumari, Principal of a private school at Anna Nagar (West) in Chennai, told IANS, “The government has declared holidays for schools due to rains and we don’t want the students to lose classes continuously. Classes were not held during the Diwali festival and now the government has declared holidays due to rains and this would lead to students losing the continuity in studies. So, we have opted for online classes again.”

However not all teachers are enthused by the online mode of teaching as many parts of Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur have power failures.

Elizabeth Neena, principal of a private school at OMR in Chennai, told IANS, “We wanted to conduct online classes for students but several students are in places where there has been no power for the past two days and in some low lying areas water has entered the homes. So I prefer to give them leave and to take extra classes once the situation becomes normal.”

The MCC Higher Secondary School in Chetpet, Chennai has commenced online classes but they have not made the classes mandatory for students taking into consideration the heavy rain, power-failure and water-logging in many parts of the city and adjoining areas.

GJ Manohar, principal of the school, while speaking to IANS said, “Children and teachers who are facing water-logging and power failure need not attend classes as it is not mandatory.”

Most of the schools have started online classes for students of Class VI to XII. The school managements and teachers said that shifting to an online platform was not difficult as they had experience in taking classes online during the pandemic.

Colleges are also allowed to take classes and students can opt whether they are joining classes or not due to power failures and rain-related issues. Most of the colleges have directed the teachers to conduct classes if the online attendance is 80% and more. If there is less participation, the teacher is free to cancel the class.

Teachers are expecting to cover more theory portions in online classes and focus on practical classes once the physical classes resume.

Most of the city areas were inundated even on Wednesday including Kolathur, the constituency of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.

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