NDRF steps up rescue efforts in Chennai; at least 2 days till

Chennai witnessed the heaviest rainfall in a hundred years which caused rampant flooding and made it impossible for people to travel through low-lying parts of the city.

A small office desk at the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) headquarters in New Delhi has picked up over 1,000 strands of vital information on social media and internet and is posting responses to those requesting help.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised $150m (£99m) to the flood-hit Tamil Nadu state.

Power supply has been erratic since the city turned off electricity to prevent possible electrocutions.

The unexpected onslaught of heavy rains in the southern state of Tamil Nadu has battered Chennai’s automotive industry. “However, intensity of rains will be restricted to light showers with few moderate spells only”, private weather forecaster, Skymet Weather, has predicted.

A depression in the Bay of Bengal has triggered rains in coastal areas.

However, limited commercial flight operations are likely to start from the Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam, near Chen-nai, connecting Hydera-bad on Friday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

The heavy rainfall alert will be valid for Chennai and neighbourhood for the week that follows (until mid-December), the Centre said.

The state government cut power to several parts of Chennai as a safety measure to prevent electrocutions. “But we have built over many of these water bodies, blocking the smooth flow of water”, she said. “This will in any case be a matter of investigation”, he said.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament House yesterday that as many as 269 people died to the torrential rains in Tamil Nadu, 54 in Andhra Pradesh and two in Puducherry.

“There are people who haven’t eaten for days”. The government has set up 97 relief camps that are now providing food and shelter to an estimated 62,000 people, Associated Press reported.

Devastating floods continued to swamp southern India on Friday, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless in the state of Tamil Nadu.