Jayalalithaa conducts aerial survey of flood-affected areas in Chennai

At least 269 people have been killed in the state since heavy rains began in early November, Singh said, although no deaths have been reported in the latest deluge.

She is just one of the six million residents in the city to have been affected by torrential downpours over the last few weeks.

“I have seen the damage and misery caused by extremely heavy rainfall”, Modi said. “As cities grow, with a nod and a wink, unauthorised construction along these channels and lakes chokes water flow”, said Shailesh Pathak, executive director at Bhartiya Group, which has its own smart city project in Bengaluru, runs a special economic zone and is expanding into low-priced housing.

“Some urban areas are totally flooded”, said S.P. Selvan, deputy inspector general of the National Disaster Response Force.

The Airport Authority of India says the airport is likely to be closed until Sunday.

The electricity supply, meanwhile, remains erratic, with flooded streets posing a security hazard to power distribution companies.

“There are no two opinions that the situation in Tamil Nadu is alarming”.

Prabhu also said the railway doctors have been deployed at various stations to check the deteriorating health condition of the stranded passengers.

The centre has allocated Rs. 5000 Crore for flood relief and rehabilitation activities.

As the Chennai airport is shut due to flooding, the force is operating from the “INS Rajali” Naval airbase in nearby Arakkonam.

The Indian Coast Guard has shifted over 150 marooned people in Chennai, and over 1,000 people stranded at different locations were provided with food cooked on board Coast Guard ships.

Bus and rail services were also hit, with many commuter trains into Chennai cancelled.

“The Prime Minister agreed with the Chief Minister that the situation in Tamil Nadu was unprecedented and expressed concern at the seriousness of the situation. Our immediate concern is for the continued safety of our employees and the members of the Chennai community”.

“The mobile telephony industry has proposed and ensured that steps are taken by introducing some special concessions and services in terms of talk-time/data/tariff so that the people are not deprived of much needed communication facilities”, he added.

The meeting also made a decision to move two additional columns of the army in these areas even as officials of these central departments were asked to keep in constant touch with their Tamil Nadu counterparts, a Home Ministry spokesperson said after the CMG meeting.