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Chennai/ Nagpur: As a part of Nature’s Fury, surplus water from lakes and tanks at Mudichur entered the suburban Tambaram locality outside Chennai, inundating a large part of the city on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Army and Air Force personnel have been deployed for rescuing stranded citizens in Kancheepuram district in Tamil Nadu, where torrential rains have left thousands marooned, reported media sources.
Choppers from the Air Force station at Tambaram carried out six sorties and evacuated 22 persons on Monday night while food packets and water were air dropped at various other locations. Citizens were also being evacuated from Kotturpuram and nearby areas in the city, as the discharge from Chembarambakkam lake had resulted in Adyar river running in spate.
Personnel from the Madras 4 Regiment of the Indian Army were also pressed into service at Mudichur in Kacheepuram on the request of the district administration, while the Air Force conducted sorties to rescue citizens, officials said.
In Chennai, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Villupuram districts, 23 to 37cm of rain was recorded on a single day, much higher than the usual annual average. Government officials said around 10,000 people living in low-lying coastal areas have been evacuated from their homes and given refuge in relief camps.
As many as 71 deaths have been reported in various rain-related incidents, including electrocution and drowning, till Monday night. With the monsoon fury causing flood and inundation in various parts of Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had on Monday announced Rs 500 crore towards relief and rehabilitation.
Though there have been no fresh rains in Chennai on Monday, the city is still reeling with the most deaths and devastation caused by the depression in Bay of Bengal. The heavy rain has also affected Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, as well as neighbouring Sri Lanka.
The weather department forecasts the rain would cease in Tamil Nadu, but has predicted heavy showers in Andhra Pradesh in the coming days.
