Chennai looked like a city under siege on Tuesday morning, with uprooted trees, smashed vehicles and hutments destroyed by the fury of cyclone Vardah which left the metropolis literally devastated. At the time of going to the Press on Tuesday evening, many parts of the metropolis were without power, telephone connection and even drinking water.
The entire city came to a standstill since Monday evening with Vardah making a landfall in Chennai late afternoon causing death and destruction.
There was no vehicular movement anywhere in the arterial roads of the city since Monday night thanks to the fallen trees. The local body officials had deployed teams from the National Disaster Response Force which cleared major stretches of the main thoroughfares for traffic by noon.
“But the inner roads remain the Achilles heel of Chennai. Since the NDRF teams were busy attending to the main stretches , these inner and ring roads had to bear the brunt. These roads which are used by more people than any other highways remained out of bounds for the real commuters,” said Meenakshi Sundaram Sairam of Adyar. He said the power services were yet to be restored in the entire Adyar region, a major residential area.
The Union Government is keeping round-the-clock alert on the situation in Chennai and surrounding areas which came under the fury of the cyclone. Besides deploying advance teams of the NDRF and Army, the Centre has told the State administration that all possible help has been lined up to meet any emergency situation in Tamil Nadu.
“My prayers are with all those people who are affected due to adverse weather conditions caused by cyclone Vardah .Stay safe. Centre, NDMA India, are working closely with local administration and Army for safety of life and property,” tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.
While Sairam said the only consolation for the residents was that there was no water stagnation. “But the uprooted trees and fallen lamp posts are matters of concern. I don’t know how long it would take them to clear the inner roads of the trees and electric posts,” he said.
Praveen Pillai, an entrepreneur from Indira Nagar whose vehicle was damaged by a fallen tree, said the bureaucrats and local body officials were yet to learn from the experiences they had in last year. “Though we had an advance warning from the Indian Meteorological Department, someone somewhere had failed in discharging their duty. Wasn’t it known that trees would be uprooted by the wind which blew at a speed of 120 kmphIJ” asked Pillai.
But Nanditha Krishna, noted environmental scientist, said that December cyclones ensure that Chennai and surrounding areas get enough water to sustain them for the scorching summer. “My grandmother used to pray for cyclones because they brought the much needed water for Chennai. The after effects of each cyclone were made by us only as we had cut down the entire trees from the city’s landscape. The wind gets reflected because of the multitude of high rise building and on its return journey, it uproots the trees,” said Krishna.
If the past is any indication, December is not a good time for Chennai city. Tamil Nadu lost its two prominent leaders (MGR and Jayalalithaa) in the month of December. Tsunami struck the Chennai coast in December. Many sons of the soil too bade farewell in the month of December!