Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Friday wrote to the Tamil Nadu Governor about the delay in the state government releasing waters from the Chembarambakkam lake in Chennai during the recent floods, reported ANI. The Opposition leader in his letter to K Rosaiah said that despite a warning from experts and weather forecasts, no precautionary measures were taken by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's government to gradually release water from some of Chennai's lakes.

The memo added that the state of the lake was reported to the Tamil Nadu chief secretary as well as one of Jayalalithaa's chief advisors, but that no action was taken. The DMK chief has asked for a commission headed by a Madras High Court judge to investigate the allegations.

Chennai and parts of coastal Tamil Nadu were hit by a historic amount of rainfall over December 1-2. Flooding was further caused by the untimely opening of the Chembarambakkam lake gates, according to experts. The Times of India also reported that the Public Works Department were not instructed to release the lake's water in time, despite officials knowing of the situation on the ground. The Chembarambakkam lake gates were opened on the night of December 1, the day the city received the most rainfall that it had in a century.