Chennai, October 18 (IANS): The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has predicted heavy rains in six districts of Tamil Nadu on Friday.

The RMC also said that Chennai will get a breather from heavy rains but light rains are a possibility in some areas there. The state capital and surrounding areas are likely to be partly cloudy, with isolated rains and thunderstorms in some places.

However, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, and Erode districts are expected to witness heavy rains.

A depression over the west-central and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal has moved west-northwestward and crossed the north Tamil Nadu-south Andhra Pradesh coasts between Puducherry and Nellore on Thursday morning and the weather office said that it is likely to continue moving west-northwestward and weaken further into a low-pressure area over the next few hours.

It also predicted heavy rains on October 20 and 21 at isolated places over the ghat areas of Coimbatore and Tirupur, and in the districts of Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Tiruchi, Dindigul, Madurai, Pudukottai, Ariyalur, and Perambalur.

A flood alert has been issued in the Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, and Tiruvannamalai districts of Tamil Nadu, through which the Thenpennai River flows. The respective district administrations have issued the alert. Due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of the Krishnagiri Reservoir Project (KRP) dam, 2,000 cusecs of water have been released from the dam. A flood alert has also been issued for the Harur and Pappireddipatti areas following this release.

Fire and Rescue Services, along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), are on standby. The continuous rainfall in the catchment areas of the Thenpennai River has led to a significant increase in the water inflow levels at the KRP dam.