Caritas India, the aid agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, has dispatched some 2.5 million rupees as emergency fund to Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state battered by the century’s worst floods. The government issued a flood alert to people living on the banks of river Adyar in Chennai, even as several lakes and tanks overflowed in the city and the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. He met Tamil Nadu chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Chennai has received more than 330 millimeters (13 inches) of rain over the last 24 hours, which is significantly higher than the regional average for the entire month of December.
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Two C-17 from “INS Rajali” airbase in Arakkonam, about 60 km west of Chennai, and one C-130 J aircraft at Tambaram airbase, have been stationed for reconnaissance missions, they said.
C-130s of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have flown from the Hindon air base in Ghaziabd to Tirupati together with NDRF Personal and relief material.
The Army has been deployed in two suburban areas to undertake rescue on a war footing.
A senior federal official said more than 1,000 people had been critically injured and were rushed to government hospitals by paramilitary forces.
Television footage showed flood-hit residents wading through waist-deep water, many carrying belongings on their heads or in small boats.
He said the centre would take necessary steps on West Bengal’s demand for central assistance in the wake of the heavy rains in the last monsoon.
The meteorological department had predicted that rains would continue till Friday, but with decreased severity.
Bhartruhari Mahtab of Biju Janata Dal said the minister had not given a concrete reply over the state’s demands in the wake of cyclone Phalin during which almost 10 lakh people were evacuated to safer places.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi surveyed the destruction and flooding from an air force helicopter.
“Leaving for Chennai to take stock of the situation due to the devastating floods”, he tweeted.
Dozens of trains to the state have been delayed this week, and on Thursday the main train station was so heavily flooded that it had to shut down operations.
Modi said he had directed the release of Rs.1,000 crore for flood relief, in addition to the Rs. 940 crore announced earlier. He said that Central Government will stand by the state government and help the state recover faster from the miserable condition that it is now.
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Thousands of stranded passengers were evacuated from Chennai’s worldwide airport, which remained closed for a second day, its runway under water. The death toll in rain-related incidents touched 188, normal life in Puducherry has been also affected due to incessant rains.
