Floods cut off more than three million people from basic services and hampered rescue efforts by the army, which has so far evacuated 18,000 people from rooftops and outlying villages. The rains have been caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, the agency said.
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An NDRF spokesperson said that by 1pm on Friday, 10,589 people had been moved to safer places by the teams.
V Raghunathan, 60, a manager at an interior design company living in the south of the booming industrial and port city, complained about the lack of warning before flood gates were opened on some of Chennai’s 30 waterways. Out team will be heading out aggressively to the areas where people are stranded, especially where waterlogging is causing major trouble. He added that now with the water levels receding, relief work will continue all through the day until all the supplies are distributed. To add to the confusion, some residents are very angry after hearing reports that authorities had released water from overflowing lakes without much notice.
Officials said they were investigating the deaths of 14 patients on life support after a power failure at a private hospital in the city.
The price of vegetables, milk and drinking water has rocketed in the flood-hit areas.
After a few days, finally, the Chennai residents felt the sunshine yesterday and a small break from the rain, is being considered as the greatest relief by the public. Southern Railway officials said they were yet to take a call on restoration of services on the other busy Tambaram-Chennai beach route, which covers both business and residential areas.
Limited commercial flight operations started this morning from the Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam near Chennai.
The monsoon rains bring floods to many parts of India every year, usually from June to September.
Jayalalitha, who had a meeting with Modi, said over 41.95 lakh food packets were provided to people and those living in apartments in affected areas were given water bottles and food by helicopters and boats.
Seema Agarwal, from the central district of Alwarpet, said she had seen many angry people queuing at bus stops to leave town.
Supply of fuel to Chennai has also taken a hit due to logistic problems faced by oil companies.
A steadily rising number of families sought safety on the city’s Basion Bridge flyover, many of them slum-dwellers whose homes had been washed away.
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When contacted, Malaysian Consul-General R. Citra Devi said until late last night, 249 Malaysians had contacted the flood crisis centre set up by her office for assistance.
