Life in Chennai is at Stake as the Floods Worsen

The continuous rains over the past few days has turned Chennai into a perfect disaster zone. With submerging homes, rail tracks, roads, and the airport runway too, waterlogging seems to take an appalling shape everywhere. The Government of India along with the intervention of the State Government have already lent a helping hand to rescue the victims. The central force has been deployed in the affected areas to carry out with the rescue work and distribute food.

As the condition deteriorates, schools, shops, factories and offices were immediately shut. Over an extended period of time, the city itself is completely detached from the rest of India due to the no supply of electricity and inactive phone lines. According to the leading weather stations, India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city has already experienced 249.1 mm and 345.1 mm of rain, respectively, which is the highest rainfall recorded in the past 100 years..

With heavy rains expected over the next three days and the deal toll rising at a significant high, the government has adopted several contingency measures to deal with the situation. The State Government has already issued an advisory to private firms to declare holidays for their employees on December 3-4 in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur.

As per the reports, around 2,200 people in Chennai are already rescued from flooded areas by army personnel.Meanwhile the the navy, has deployed pressed divers and boats into service. 7 helicopters are also underway to Tirupati.

Services at banks and ATMs were also closed due to the shortage of diesel affecting their generator back-ups. “For the first time in history, the water level of the Adyar river has reached the bridge. This is the worst spell of rains that I have ever seen in this city. We called the police and the Chennai Corporation in the morning to appeal for immediate rescue. But they have not turned up yet,” said R Gopalan, a resident of Vasudeva Nagar in Jafferkhanpet.

The rescue efforts of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Navy are already in operation in the worst hit areas- Mudichur near Tambaram and the banks of the Adyar river in the city. In addition to that shortage of diesel and floods also affected the media houses, with some TV news channels and newspapers resulting into the suspended operations.

According to the Tamil Nadu government officials,  about 2 lakh food packets were distributed and hundreds of people are provided medical assistance. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa has already attended for  an aerial survey of the affected areas.