Chennai, Nov 7 (IANS): The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rain in several districts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday and for the next few days.

Heavy rain are expected to lash Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Nilgiris, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Kallakuruchi, Tiruvanamalai, and Tiruchy.

The IMD has predicted that a low-pressure area is likely to move towards north Tamil Nadu in the next two days and rains will continue to increase in the state's north coastal region on November 11 and 12.

Officials said that heavy to very heavy rain are expected in Chennai and surrounding areas from November 10.

Chennai is already reeling under heavy rains for the past few days and people are being shifted from low-lying areas of the city including Anna Nagar.

However, weather predicting radars at Karaikal and Chennai have gone offline following some technical snags, giving a blow to the weather prediction.

Sources in the IMD told IANS that until the Karaikal radar is cleared of its technical snag, the stretch of area from Puducherry to Thoothukudi is in a 'blind spot' and this has to be rectified immediately.

S. Balachandran, Deputy Director-General of Meteorology, told media persons that a team has already arrived to repair the Karaikal radar and the snag would be rectified soon.

However, the senior scientist said that this would not affect weather forecasting as there are satellite images, balloon data, and other tools to provide exact and accurate forecasts.

The IMD is depending presently on the radar at the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT). However, there is scepticism among the scientific community and weather forecasters that this is an X-band radar, with a maximum range of only 150 km to 200 km.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is likely to visit the inundated areas of Chennai on Sunday and has directed officials to monitor the storage levels of dams closely.