Though it did not rain in Chennai on Monday and Tuesday, the Capital faced a flood-like situation on Tuesday and death toll in rain-related incidents across Tamil Nadu touched 79 with eight more deaths reported from three districts.
The eight deaths in Villupuram, Vellore and Kanchipuram districts were due to electrocution, wall collapse and drowning.
Meanwhile, the announcement by the Indian Meteorological Department on Tuesday that the intensity of rains would come down and the well-marked low pressure area would dissipate in a day or two without much heavy rain has brought some relief to the people.
The NDRF has been deployed in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring districts of Andhra Pradesh to save and help people stranded in floodwaters. By Wednesday afternoon, the NDRF team had evacuated nearly 1,000 persons from the flood-affected regions in Tamil Nadu and AP, according to Prasanth Dar, commandant of the Tenth Battalion of the NDRF.
In Kancheepuram district, the Army and Air Force were deployed to rescue stranded citizens as torrential rains left residents marooned, as rain water inundated a large part of suburban Tambaram locality here.
The Navy and Coast Guard have also joined rescue operations. Coast Guard choppers airdropped 500 kg of bread, biscuits and drinking water in Tambaram in two sorties, a CG release said and added their helicopters have been kept on standby to augment State Government’s relief efforts.
A naval helicopter from INS Rajali at neighbouring Arakkonam was also on standby, the navy said, adding it was also ready with its ‘assets’ here and at Vishakapatnam to assist the State Government as and when required.
With the truck operators calling off of the transportation of vegetables due to the battered roads, prices of vegetables and fruits have skyrocketed. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Tuesday ordered the opening of 50 temporary farm fresh vegetable outlets in Chennai city so that the common man could get essential vegetables on reasonable prices.
The opening of some of the over flowing reservoirs which provide drinking water to Chennai city resulted in the flooding of Adyar and Cooum Rivers. Many hutments along the banks of these rivers were washed away. All people staying along the banks were evacuated to safety. Tuesday night saw the IAF helicopters carrying out six sorties and evacuating nearly 30 persons stranded in flood.
Southern Railway on Tuesday announced cancellation of 15 trains bound for various destinations due to the water logging on tracks. Fifteen trains, scheduled to leave from Chennai and Puducherry and passing through Chennai Central on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday have been cancelled.
“It is a calamity like situation in Chennai because of the floods. I have never seen such floods ravaging Chennai before,” said Sam Rajappa, veteran journalist, who got marooned because of flood waters since Sunday.
Meanwhile, M Karunanidhi, the nonagenarian chief of the DMK , announced a relief of Rs1 crore towards disaster relief measures announced by the State Government. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had on Monday evening released a sum of Rs500 crore towards the relief and rehabilitation measures.
(With inputs from agencies)