Ola launches boat service in rain-affected Chennai

Each boat is said to be manned by two rowers and can ferry anywhere between five to nine people at one time. A quick crash course to boatmen to offer preference to senior citizens and not to charge customers followed even as catamarans and inflatable dinghies were pressed into service. Ola is also providing rain gear to all rowers, which will help them ferry people without any hassles. But, as it turns out taxi aggregator Ola did listened to your thoughts and deployed boats in water logged and partially submerged areas in a bid to help transport citizens stranded due to the Chennai floods. Ola coordinated with local fireman and the Chennai Sport Fishing Company to gather the rowers and fishermen for this relief expedition.

Ola is Uber’s main rival in India and runs services in over 100 cities.

Ola is working on the basis of information received from the Fire and Rescue Department and will be providing this service over the next few days which will be extended in the event of water logging continuing. While we are addressing the increased demand for transportation in the city through the Ola app, we are working closely with local stakeholders to help ferry those stranded in water logged areas.

About 70 have been reported to be dead due to the rain. You can use “OYOC799” as code to get discounts for booking a hotel room through Oyo rooms. The boats also have umbrellas on-board to help comfort the passengers that are being rescued from these areas, which include Thoraipakkam, Velachery amongst others areas in the IT corridor. “We hope that the situation improves soon and things return to normal at the earliest”, he added.