Chennai, Nov 4 : Heavy rains that lashed Tamil Nadu for the past few days have dampened the festive spirit of Diwali in the state. In several districts of the state, the government had to put a backup of even National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) anticipating rain-related catastrophe. Tamil Nadu education department had declared holidays for schools in 18 districts of the state on Wednesday following heavy rains. The death of a woman police constable, Kavitha after a tree fell on her while on duty at the Tamil Nadu secretariat gate was due to the tree getting uprooted following heavy rains. In the busy Ranganathan street of T Nagar in Chennai, there was heavy rush in the earlier days of the Diwali week but during the past two days due to heavy rains, the footfall reduced. With strong restrictions in place on bursting only green crackers, the firecracker sale also has come down. Heavy rains have also dampened the sale of firecrackers. In Chennai, heavy rains led to water clogging and in some wards like Prakash Colony in Chennai, sewage water got mixed with rainwater and inundated the place. Sujatha Mani, a resident of Prakash colony in Chennai said, "Our Diwali celebrations are gone as rainwater mixed with sewage water have entered our homes due to heavy rains. The corporation had not replaced the old sewage pipes and hence, whenever it rains heavily, the rainwater gets mixed with sewage water creating misery to the residents." In Dindigul, Ramanathapuram, Kanniyakumari, Theni and Madurai too heavy rains have dampened the spirit with people staying indoors. However, with the IMD predicting cloudy sky and intermittent rains, there is hope for children and elders alike as they would be able to celebrate the festival with reduced pomp and grandeur. Gangadevi, a homemaker from Ashok Nagar, while speaking to IANS said that rains have dampened the spirit of the festival. However, on Diwali day, there is a relief as rains have taken a back step and children are enthused but the restrictions of bursting the crackers only for an hour during the night have reduced the spirit of bursting crackers. "We had done our purchase well in advance and hence have all the necessary materials required to celebrate the festival adequately at home. " However, Tasmac liquor shops did brisk business and people thronged the shops in large numbers. The Tasmac has already announced that the target for the Diwali is Rs 1,000 crore business and sources in the corporation told IANS that the collection would cross the targeted amount. With government offices and schools getting a holiday on Friday also, the state will open fully only on Monday as Saturday and Sunday being holidays for most of the offices. /IANS