Editor's Pick: Nivar brings rain & painful memories to Chennai

(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.)

Cyclone Nivar, categorised as a 'very severe cyclone', is making its way across the Bay of Bengal towards the Tamil Nadu coast. It is expected to make landfall later today between the historical town of Mamallapuram, which is about 50 km from Chennai, and the Union Territory of Puducherry further down the coast. While the eye of the storm will pass here, the accompanying winds and rain is expected to impact several areas to the north and south, including Chennai. Districts in Andhra Pradesh are also on high alert as the cyclone is expected to move northward and into the State. Disaster response forces and first-responder services are on standby in many areas. Squalls in and near Chennai have already inundated some areas and are also bringing the city's reservoirs to the brim.

While cyclones and weather systems in the Bay of Bengal that bring heavy rainfall in the coastal regions are common in the October-December period, memories of the 2015 flood are fresh for Chennai. Relentless rainfall along with haphazard construction in drainage areas and poor stormwater removal systems resulted in massive inundation in the city's core areas for several days. Hundreds died and thousands were displaced as the Cooum and the Adyar rivers in the city swallowed up their banks. The delayed opening of the city's Chembarambakkam reservoir drastically worsened the situation. Tamil Nadu -- especially Chennai -- was beat up again by Cyclone Vardah in 2016 and a flood in 2017. The State government has since then become more prepared for disaster management, and flood mitigation measures have been put in place in Chennai. Nivar, if it continues with the same intensity after it makes landfall, will be a severe test of these new measures.

The highly unpredictable nature of cyclonic weather systems makes the next two days tense for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Andhra Pradesh. It could be that the system turns beneficial and brings rain to the region like some of the 13 such systems that have crossed in the Mamallapuram to Puducherry stretch since 1971. Or it could lay waste to the region like others. This is what makes the story important.