India flood death toll nears 270 as Chennai remains at standstill

Facebook activated their Safety Check feature on Thursday morning, while people travelling to Chennai to help out in the rescue efforts posted about safe road routes. “We have broken up our teams into sector and have dispersed them in south Chennai where the damage is the most”, DG NDRF OP Singh told ANI.

Already, as many as 269 people died as the rains pounded the state mercilessly while a loss of 54 lives was reported in Andhra Pradesh and two deaths recorded in the state of Puducherry.

“True to its motto of “Exclusive by Profession and Inclusive of operations”, the IAF is reaching out to provide succour to the stranded population”, the defence official said.

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the unprecedented crisis a national disaster. “The government of India stands with the people of Tamil Nadu in their hour of need”, Mr Modi said in his brief statement to the media.

Dozens of homes across Chennai remained submerged too despite the rain ebbing.

Director General of the force, O P Singh, said his teams are expected to rescue and reach out to more number of people on Friday as water has receded in some places. Many thousands also shifted to others’ houses after water entered theirs. We are trying to arrange drinking water and food for passengers.

As the water level in the swollen Adyar and Coovum rivers as well as lakes and reservoirs in the region went down, people used the opportunity to stock up on essential items, withdraw cash from ATMs wherever they were functioning and fill up petrol, among other things.

Chennai has been battling heavy rains since early November due to a low pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal.

Forecasts of more rain over the next 48 hours forced the army to work on a war footing to rescue survivors trapped in inundated parts of Chennai. “Approximately 30 tonnes of relief material and 130 NDRF Personnel landed at naval air base INS Rajali, Arakonam”, Singh posted.

India’s main monsoon season runs from June through September, but the period from October to December – also called the retreating monsoon – brings the most rainfall to India’s southeastern coastal areas. The meeting also chose 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.

The bridge was set up as the Meenambakkam airport in Chennai was shut down owing to the flood situation as part of “Operation Madad”.