Several parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, received heavy rainfall on Tuesday morning. Among other districts that saw heavy rains were Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, which are located near the state capital.

The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rains till Wednesday in several areas including the districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur, The Hindu reported.

There are expected to be isolated instances of extremely heavy rainfall.

The Union territory of Puducherry and its town of Karaikal are also expected to be affected.

The weather department said that a low pressure area over the southeastern Bay of Bengal was expected to move in the northwest direction on Tuesday, with the possibility of it intensifying into a depression.

The weather system will move further toward north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining areas of southern Andhra Pradesh in the subsequent two days, it said.

Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin told reporters on Tuesday morning that about 5 cm rainfall had been recorded in Chennai in the past 24 hours. Flooding had been reported in about 300 locations in the city and the water was being pumped out, the deputy chief minister said.

He said that 26 teams from the National Disaster Response Force and its state unit had been deployed in Chennai and Tamil Nadu’s coastal areas.

As a precautionary measure, the Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts on Tuesday.

Chief Minister MK Stalin has instructed authorities to advise IT companies in these districts to allow their employees to work from home till Friday, the Hindustan Times reported.

Several flights operating from the Chennai airport were cancelled on Tuesday morning due to heavy rainfall, ANI reported.