Residents clutching babies and food thronged flooded streets in India’s Chennai on Friday, braving chest-deep water to reach high ground or heading the other way to rescue relatives still stranded days after overflowing lakes drowned the city.
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As many as 269 people have died as the rains pounded the state mercilessly while a loss of 54 lives was reported in Andhra Pradesh and two deaths recorded in the state of Puducherry.
It said Sinha directed authorities to restore telecom and power services with “utmost priority” in the state.
The Indian Meteorological Department scaled down a forecast for very heavy rains but adds that more rain or thunderstorms are likely.
Torrential rains have left at leasts 245 people dead since October 1, according to the Tamil Nadu government.
Sanitation workers have begun spraying insecticide in many places to prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue due to the stagnant water collected in large parts of the city.
It is foreseen that next week, Southern India will be at more risk for worsening floods brought over by a combination of a weak tropical low and moisture from the Bay of Bengal. “Those with big vehicles are driving around rescuing people”, she said by telephone. The Indian Army and Air Force officials have been engaged in rescue operations for the past several days.
Residents said supplies of essential commodities were hard to come by.
Chennai airport, where operations were suspended till Sunday in the wake of floods, will partially resume flight operations from today.
The prime minister’s office was shocked to see the photograph from his Thursday visit to the region being distorted, said a senior official who declined to be named. Schools, hospitals, factories and other facilities in and around the flat coastal city have been shut down.
“We feel rather helpless”, he said. Jayalalitha, who had a meeting with Modi, said over 4.2mn food packets were provided to people and those living in apartments in affected areas were given water bottles and food by helicopters and boats.
He said floodwater entered the room housing the generators, cutting off power to the building and switching off the ventilators. Lots of lives were lost due to this flooding.
The contribution is in partnership with its Red Cross partners in India, in view of the “dire situation in the states affected by the floods”.
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“We have repeatedly drawn attention to the fact that our urban sprawls such as Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Srinagar etc have not paid adequate attention to the natural water bodies that exist in them”, said Sunita Narain, director of the Centre for Science and Environment, an advocacy and research organization.
