The court took a dim view of floods and droughts faced by the state capital every year. Yesterday the Chennai civic body was pulled up by the Madras High Court, which asked it: " What have you been doing since 2015?". Videos that emerged on social medial showed cars and two-wheelers partially submerged and people wading through knee-deep water in some places to buy essential commodities. 12 people died, at least 530 houses or huts were damaged and more than 1,700 people are in relief camps.Ĭhennai was pounded by rains over the weekend - the heaviest since the 2015 floods - leading to widespread flooding in the city and its suburbs of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. Tamil Nadu has been battered by heavy rains over the past few days, having received 46 per cent excess rain so far, as compared to the historical average.
HOW LONG IS HEAVY RAIN FREE
Free food will be given at 'Amma canteens' and the Chennai Corporation will distribute food packets to communities in low-lying areas.Īhead of the expected deluge, the state government has also set up 434 'siren towers' to alert authorities to floods and other emergencies, and is working with telecom networks to ensure mobile connectivity 50 cellular phone towers (on wheels) are ready for use. 14 of 16 flooded subways in the city have been cleared, authorities said. Overall, 169 relief centres are operational, and floods have been cleared in 216 of around 400 areas. There will be no sudden release of water from Chembarambakkam (as in 2015), he said, adding that 2,000 cusecs is being released. They said only a few low-lying areas were still inundated, but cautioned these will likely get flooded again once rains start.Ĭoncerns over additional floods after water is released from reservoirs near the city were allayed by Mr Bedi, who told NDTV water will be released slowly and that there will be no repeat of 2015. Mr Singh and his second-in-command, Deputy Commissioner G Sneha, said 53 boats and 507 motor pumps, in addition to 60 heavy-duty pumps, had been deployed in Chennai for rescue efforts and to drain floodwaters.
HOW LONG IS HEAVY RAIN GENERATOR
Measures to distribute food and generator sets (for electricity supply), and to meet other infrastructure needs are also ready," Greater Chennai Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi told NDTV.
Keep all electronic devices charged for communication. "The public should not go out during rainfall.