Chennai: Incessant rain in Chennai has left at least 5 people dead and several houses damaged in the past few days, with the Madras High Court on Tuesday asking the Greater Chennai Corporation to take adequate measures to prevent flooding in the city during heavy rains. warned to fail.
The high court also sought to know what the civic body was doing for the last six years after the devastating floods in 2015. The High Court also warned the civic body to take suo motu action if the current situation was not brought under control.
Madras High Court warns Chennai Corporation for “failure to take adequate measures to prevent flooding in city during rains”, asks what authorities were doing after 2015 floods
Taking suo motu cognizance, the court has warned to take action if the situation of water logging is not controlled. pic.twitter.com/kScr1mabaD
The warning came in the form of heavy rain in several suburbs of Chennai and Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts since Saturday.
Five killed, 70 houses damaged
Last five people have died and over 260 huts and over 70 houses have been damaged due to rain-related incidents in Tamil Nadu. Excess rain water washed away from the reservoirs, while many roads here looked like overflowing rivers and four people were killed in rain-related incidents across Tamil Nadu.
The state government has alerted the people living in low-lying areas. The Poondi, Cholavaram, Puzhal, Chembarambakkam and Theravai Kandigai reservoirs and Veeranam Lake, about 230 km from here, released excess water, totaling 10,000 cusecs of water, as rains continued in the catchment areas.
Mettur reservoir in Salem district is expected to touch its full level of 120 feet soon and is expected to discharge the surplus water on Tuesday. People have been alerted and local authorities have been advised to move residents of low-lying areas to safer places.
Official sources said heavy rains have been lashing the Cauvery river catchment areas in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, taking the water flow into the dam to over 27,000 cusecs, which is about 118 feet. The Coimbatore district administration has also issued an alert for the people living on the banks of the Noyyal river in view of the incessant rains.
Vellore district officials said the water volume from Ponnai Anaikut was raised to around 6,364 cusecs by evening. In view of the release of excess water from the reservoirs, people of their respective areas have been alerted.
In Chennai, most of the roads and by-lanes were covered with sheets of water, while low-lying areas had water up to two feet. In view of security, the power supply of many localities has also been cut.
Adambakkam, a flood city police station, had to be shifted to a temporary building. At least 75 trees were uprooted here and these were cleared by the municipal personnel. Monsoon rains gathered momentum and subsided for some time, playing hide and seek throughout the day, here and in several other areas including the northern districts.
A section of subways here and in the suburbs remained closed and traffic diversion continued, causing inconvenience to road users, even as civic workers shouted slogans to clear silt and drains.
Minimum train services due to rain and waterlogging
Southern Railway said that due to rain and water-logging, the ‘Sunday pattern’ (minimum services) will be applicable in Chennai suburban train services on Central-Arakkonam, Central-Sulurpeta (Andhra Pradesh), Beach-Chengalpet and Beach on November 9. Velachery Section.
The government said in an official release that out of 290 waterlogged areas, 59 areas were drained using heavy equipment and swift action was being taken to flush out the remaining 231 areas. .
Four persons were killed and 16 cattle were killed in rain-related incidents in Chennai, Theni and Madurai districts in the last 24 hours, the release said. Officials said that of the 16 cities that have been flooded, 14 of them have been drained and the remaining two will also be free from rain water soon.
At least 237 huts were partially damaged and 26 completely and 65 more houses were partially and completely damaged. The government said 37 districts received rainfall in the last 24 hours and the state average was 14.2 mm (1.42 cm).
Tamil Nadu has recorded nearly 43 per cent more rainfall than normal since the onset of the northeast monsoon last month. While the normal is 241.2 mm (24.12 cm), the state has recorded 346.1 mm (34.61 cm).
So far 1,107 people have been kept in 48 relief camps in Chennai and a total of 3,58,500 food packets have been provided. Similarly, in the northern districts of Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Chengalpet and Tiruvallur, 314 people have been kept in 10 shelters and are being provided with food and all other basic facilities.
IMD has warned of more rain
The Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued ‘alert’ and preparedness advisory for the districts of Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Theni, Tenkasi and Tirunelveli. In a bulletin, the department said the cyclonic circulation over southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman sea, extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level.
Under its influence, a Low Pressure Area is very likely to form over southeast Bay of Bengal and neighborhood during next 24 hours. It is very likely to move west-northwestwards, concentrate into a depression and reach near north Tamil Nadu coast by the morning of November 11 and cause widespread rainfall over many areas of the state, the bulletin said.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea for fishing between November 9 and 12.
NDRF teams deployed
Revenue and Disaster Management Minister KKSSR Ramachandran said two teams of NDRF personnel have been deployed in Madurai and one each in Chengalpet and Tiruvallur. Similarly, state disaster response teams are deployed in Thanjavur and Cuddalore districts.
He said the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services wing is on alert mode with all necessary equipment. The minister said that the people of the 24 x 7 state control rooms and districts can be contacted through toll free numbers 1070 and 1077.
People can also contact the Greater Chennai Corporation officials by using the toll-free number of 1913.
CM Stalin distributed food, relief material in Chennai
Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected the affected areas for the second consecutive day and provided flood relief assistance to the affected people at Royapuram here. MP and former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran was also present during the distribution of food and other relief material at the venue in Raipuram.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inspects the rain-hit areas of Kolathur and Villivakkam in Chennai, where he distributed food and relief materials to the needy people. pic.twitter.com/p9AYGbmV6g
Also present was DGP C Silendra Kumar and a team of senior police and revenue department officials. To clear water-logging, subways and rain-related works, the Greater Chennai Corporation deployed 23,000 personnel, who worked hard amid the rain, to restore normalcy. Stalin has appointed 15 IAS officers to oversee relief operations in 15 corporation areas.
More than 200 special monsoon medical camps were organized in which 3,776 people got medical aid. A total of 152 fever cases, 165 cases related to skin infections and over 2,600 other cases were treated, the corporation said.
Power Minister V Senthil Balaji said that out of around 44,50,000 electricity connections in the Chennai distribution circle, only 12,297 were disconnected due to security reasons. “With the flood water receding and rains, power supply will be restored swiftly,” the minister tweeted.
Although government bus services continued to ply here and in other neighboring areas, services remained disrupted on several routes. Metro rail service was not affected.