18 die in India hospital as floods cut off power

After a day-long dry spell on Thursday, some areas in and around the city, including Kodambakkam, T Nagar and Tambaram received showers in the night but this morning saw some bright skies with people out on the streets. The deluge destroyed crucial road and rail links, shutdown the airport, snapped power and telecom lines and left lakhs of people stranded.

“I can’t even believe that this much water is possible in Chennai”, a woman told NDTV television as she stood in waist-deep water.

Extreme rainfall in southern India has killed almost 270 people and displaced about a million more, as flooding causes major problems in the state of Tamil Nadu. Trains and buses have been suspended, and schools and colleges are closed.

It said Sinha directed authorities to restore telecom and power services with “utmost priority” in the state.

Dozens of homes across Chennai remained submerged too despite the rain ebbing. Drinking water was in brief provide and so have been primary necessities together with milk and greens. Vegetables continued to remain costly. Police later informed that these were mere rumours and that there was no need to panic.

Teams of NDRF, Army personnel and police and fire service men swung into action to rescue people from their flooded homes in Kotturpuram, Nandanam, Jafferkhanpet, Saidapet and the suburban areas of Velacheri, Madipakkam, Tambaram and Mudichur localities, where water had reached up to the first floor.

However, the Chennai Airport may take two more days to resume commercial flight operations due to waterlogging, said Minister of State for aviation Mahesh Sharma.

The National Disaster Response Force, a specialist federal unit set up to handle emergencies, would send 20 more teams in addition to the 28 already on the ground, making it the force’s largest deployment to a flood disaster.

The contribution is in partnership with its Red Cross partners in India, in view of the “dire situation in the states affected by the floods”. Officials say they expect the death toll to rise once the water levels go down, revealing drowned bodies.

The state government has announced that bus travel will be free till December 8. We only see land for buildings, not for water.

One week later, Majumder says, “many people in India, not just in Chennai, are beginning to worry about the fact that India is seeing extreme drought in one part of the country and then flooding at the same time in another part of the country, and they’re hoping something can be done to address this”.

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre forecast rains in most parts of Tamil Nadu and Puduchery for the next 24 hours.

It is foreseen that next week, Southern India will be at more risk for worsening floods brought over by a combination of a weak tropical low and moisture from the Bay of Bengal.

Fishing activity came to a standstill as the sea is very rough in the delta district of Nagapattinam.