The rains that have virtually broken a 100-year-old record with one day's rainfall covering a month's average.
Non-stop torrential rains since last night pounded several parts of Chennai and its suburbs and Puducherry triggering a deluge completely disrupting normal life as army was deployed tonight in two suburban areas to undertake rescue on a war footing. Two columns of army's Garrison Infantry Battalion have been pressed into service in Tambaram and Oorapakkam after the Tamil Nadu government sought military assistance. The Navy is also on stand-by. All flight operations at Chennai airport were suspended tonight until further review and a number of flights disrupted as waters inundated the runway and the tarmac.
The rains that have virtually broken a 100-year-old record with one day's rainfall covering a month's average also flooded areas in Vadapalani, Valasaravakkam and Nandamvakkam as nearby lakes overflowed into the city.
Adding to the woes,
Chennai city and neighbouring districts braced for more rains as the Met deparment predicted heavy to very heavy rains in the next four days. Most areas of Chennai, which have already been lashed by rains for over a fortnight, went under water today severely disrupting train and bus services and forcing postponment of half-yearly school exams and closure of schools in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. A large part of the road near Madhya Kailash temple in the heart of the city in an area that connects the IT corridor, caved in resulting in a huge crater and disrupting traffic.
Even in hitherto unaffected areas, people complained that water entered their homes and roads flooded with surging waters. Several areas in the city went without power as supply was cut as a safety precaution. The situation has worsened in suburban areas of Tambaram and Mudichur after the Chembarakam lake overflowed and an unprecedented 26,000 cusecs of water was being released flooding the downstream areas. These areas had already suffered heavily during the earlier spells of rains.
National Disaster Rescue Force has already despatched ten teams of which four are already in Chennai and the rest will be flying in tomorrow. "At the same time, we are also requisitioning teams from Bengaluru and Andhra Pradesh," NDRF chief O P Singh said. Rescue work will begin and NDRF would deploy more teams if required. Teams carrying boats will also be sent to Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts. As the death toll in rain-related incidents touched 188,
Chief Minister Jayalalithaaa reviewed the situation and deputed ministers to inspect the affected regions.
Half-yearly exams in schools, which were to have begun on December 7, were postponed. Schools were closed today and will remain shut tomorrow as well. Flight operations also took a hit due to rains. Airport officials said one flight, which had left Colombo this morning, returned. Twelve trains leaving Chennai Egmore were cancelled due to water overflowing on railway tracks between Villupuram - Tambaram section. Also, eleven trains were diverted.
Motorists had a tough time as not only arterial roads like Anna Salai and, GST Road were inundated but also many interior roads. Also, many roads were damaged, with several of them caving in inconveniencing motorists.
Puducherry and its suburbs continued to be lashed by heavy rains since last night and it recorded 15.2 cm rain in the last 24 hours ending 0830 hours today.
Met office has cautioned of more showers in the next four days across Tamil Nadu with some regions likely to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall. Jayalalithaa said police, fire and rescue, National and State Disaster Forces and Coast Guard have been kept ready for need-based evacuation of people from flood hit regions. She reviewed the situation arising out of heavy rains in districts including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore and Kanchipuram districts. She also ordered postponement of half-yearly examinations for school children to next month previously slated to be held from December 7.
As a result of the rains, Poondi, Cholavaram, Puzhal and Chembarambakkam reservoirs that feed Chennai have touched 83.8 per cent of its capacity and out of the 14,098 lakes under PWD in Tamil Nadau 6,791 lakes are full. "I have ordered officials to take precautionary measures before releasing surplus waters from reservoirs and evacuate people living in low-lying areas," she said. She also ordered a solatium of Rs four lakh to the kin of each of the four persons who were killed in rain-related incidents a few days ago in various parts of the state. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has sought immediate interim financial assistance of Rs 100 crore from the Centre, to take up relief works.
In a release, Rangasamy said he had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking immediately an interim relief of Rs 100 crore to cope with the situation arising out of the rains.
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