Chennai: Rain abated in Chennai on Thursday giving relief to people tormented by the heavy downpour in the last three days, but excessive discharge of water last night from Chembarambakkam lake on the outskirts has flooded new areas in the city and threatens to displace people from their homes.
After an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced an immediate release of Rs.1,000 crore for relief and rehabilitation works in Tamil Nadu.
“A sum of Rs. 1,000 crore will be released immediately by the Government of India to carry out relief works. This will be in addition to Rs.940 crore which was released earlier (by the Centre),” he said in a brief statement at the naval base “INS Adyar” here.
Also Read: PM Modi announces Rs.1,000 crore more for TN relief works
Death toll in Tamil Nadu due to floods has gone up to 269, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha today.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Army, Navy and commandos of police and fire service personnel were deployed for rescue and relief works in the worst-affected areas of Kotturpuram, Jafferkhanpet and Nandanam on the banks of the Adyar river that has been in spate for the last two days.
Also Read: Chennai flood situation "very alarming": Rajnath Singh
Terming the situation in flood-hit Chennai as "very alarming", Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said in the Lok Sabha that the Centre will extend all possible assistance to the state governments in dealing with natural calamities.
For the first time in over 40 years, the water has risen rapidly on the river breaching the road and the Maraimalai Adigal bridge in Saidapet cutting the arterial Anna Salai (Mount Road), rendering it out of bounds for motorists.
Also Read: #ChennaiRains: 7 ways you can help flood victims
Though there has been no rain since Wednesday night, the fresh flooding of the streets in the heart of the city in areas like Kodambakkam and T Nagar and Ashok Nagar has been caused by the release of an estimated 30,000 cusecs of water from the Chembarambakkam lake, one of city's sources of drinking water.
People in the city are worried about the forecast of showers over the next three days.
The Rajali Naval air station near Arakonam, about 70 km from Tamil Nadu capital, will be converted into a make-shift airport for commercial flights after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced shutting down the Chennai Airport.
The AAI took the decision to close down the airport following the prediction by the IMD that there will be rains for next 72 hours over Chennai and suburbs with the next 48 hours being "very crucial."
PM flies to Chennai to take stock of flood situation
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today flew to Chennai to take stock of the situation arising out of the floods.
"Leaving for Chennai to take stock of the situation arising due to the devastating floods," Modi tweeted before starting for Tamil Nadu.
The Centre has described the situation in Chennai as "worrisome".
For the first time in over 40 years, the water has risen rapidly on the river breaching the road and the Maraimalai Adigal bridge in Saidapet cutting the arterial Anna Salai
(Mount Road), rendering it out of bounds for motorists.
Rains abated in Chennai today giving relief to people tormented by the heavy downpour of the last three days but excessive discharge of water last night from Chembarambakkam lake on the outskirts flooded new areas of the city
threatening to uproot people from their homes.
The fresh flooding of the streets in the heart of the city in areas like Kodambakkam and T.Nagar and Ashok Nagar has been caused by the release of an estimated 30,000 cusecs of water from the Chembarambakkam lake, one of city's source of drinking water.
The sky is overcast without any fresh rainfall and people are worried about the forecast of showers over the next three days.
Essential commodities in short supply in rain-hit Chennai
Chennai: Even as the rains moderated across the city, availability of essential commodities like milk and water was affected while in some places they were being sold at exorbitant prices.
For the third consecutive day power, transport and telephone facilities were affected due to the rains.
A one litre packet of milk was being sold for Rs 100 in some places while vegetables like tomato and beans were being sold at Rs 80 to Rs 90 per kg.
As the state electricity board had suspended power as a precautionary measure, most of the residents of the city and its neighbourhoods, who had stocked on milk and vegetables were unable to preserve them for long.
Large queues were seen in places where milk was being sold while the famous Koyambedu vegetable market was cut off from the city, leading to the spiralling vegetable prices.
The price of mineral water also hit the roof with a 20 litre bottle normally available for Rs 30 being sold for Rs 150 per bottle.
Most of the supermarkets and hotels across the city were either shut or had run out of stocks.
Unprecedented heavy rains and flooding, triggered by north east monsoon and a low pressure in Bay of Bengal, during the last several days has heaped misery on several districts in Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai.
Many areas in Chennai and its suburbs have submerged, bringing life to a halt.
(With inputs from PTI)
