With floodwaters receding in Chennai , rescue operations have given way to relief works in Chennai and suburban areas. In addition to the Government-administered relief camps, many camps operated by political parties and non-governmental organisations too have sprang up in most street corners in the metropolis.
Except for the DMK and its top leaders, most Opposition leaders are concentrating on relief camps. M Karunanidhi, the DMK patriarch, along with his son MK Stalin and daughter Kanimozhi called on Governor K Rosaiah on Friday to hand over a “chargesheet” against the AIADMK Government led by J Jayalalithaa alleging callousness on the part of the Government in opening the flood gates of Chembarambakkam reservoir without advance warning.
S Ramadoss, the founder of the PMK, and his son Anbumani Ramadoss, have taken a break from their election campaign and are concentrating on organizing medical camps. Ramadoss and son, both medical doctors, were seen examining hundreds of patients “free of cost” who made to the relief camps organized by the PMK in and around Chennai. The consultation processes were “photo ops” for the father-son duo and the party which has projected Anbumani as the chief ministerial candidate for the 2016 assembly election.
While the relief camps organised by the political parties stand out for the cacophony, sound and fury, a camp that has caught everybody’s attention is the one organised by Seva Bharati at Purasawalkam, a Chennai suburb. Operating from the garage of a building under construction, volunteers of this camp function like a well-oiled machine.
The garage serves as the command post for 83 relief centres spread across Chennai and 40 other camps in the flood affected districts of Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur and Cuddalore. “Our camps started functioning on the night between December 1st and 2nd when heavy rains lashed across Chennai. All of us launched rescue operations with whatever materials available to us, whether it be old water cans or Styrofoam material which float in water,” said Rama Rajasekhar, who leads the relief operations.