Rainfall in Chennai and its neighbouring districts receded on Friday, bringing relief to flood-affected residents and rescue agencies.
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No flights could operate from Chennai airport which is inundated.
The unprecedented rains have killed 269 people till now even as PM Modi had on Thursday announced a Rs 1,000 crore package for the flood-hit state.
“I have seen the damage and misery caused by the extremely heavy rainfall”.
The Indian Meteorological Department on Friday scaled down a forecast for very heavy rains, but added that more rain or thunderstorms were likely.
Devastating floods continued to swamp southern India on Friday, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless in the state of Tamil Nadu. “Commercial flight services can not start at Chennai airport as of now, we should give it 2 days”, he said.
The Cabinet Secretary asked the concerned Ministries to provide necessary assistance in a coordinated manner to the State Government, ensuring that the rescue and evacuation of the people was their top priority.
Despite combined rescue efforts by the military and civilian emergency services, help had yet to reach many areas and city-dwellers, who were growing impatient.
More than 50,000 people have been shifted to relief camps, said officials.
Some 5000 houses are still under water with many people trapped inside them.
Residents scramble for food packages distributed in Chennai after heavy rains flooded the city.
Police and government officials said they were investigating the deaths of 14 patients on life-support after a power failure in the intensive care unit of MIOT International, a private hospital. “We expect to have better results today as things have improved and rains have stopped over the last night”, he said. Other Chennai citizens in safer areas offered their homes and to distribute food on Twitter.
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The federal weather office has predicted two more days of torrential rain in the southern state, where almost 70 million people live.
