Flood Situation Continues To Remain Grim InTamil Nadu; Chennai Declared disaster zone

 

The flood situation continues to remain grim in Chennai and several parts of Tamil Nadu, Southern state of India. The torrential rains have created havoc and nearly everyone in the area and the surrounding coastal regions have been affected in one way or the other. The gravity of calamity can be gauged from the fact that personnel from all three defence services have been deployed into relief and rescue operation.

Flights to and out of Chennai have been cancelled and all the commercial operations at the Chennai airport have been stopped till December 6. Over 50 trains have either been cancelled or diverted due to flooding of rail tracks at several places.

PM Modi visited Tamil Nadu; met the chief minister Jayalalithaa and conducted aerial survey of flood affected areas. She has apprised the Prime Minister about the situation.

PM Modi has announced Rs 1000 crore assistance for Tamilnadu floods. He said, "Indian government stands by the people of Tamil Nadu at the hours of this crisis."

 The toll tax collection on all NHs in the state has been freed seeing the situation in Tamilnadu till December 11, 2015.

PM's aerial survey of flood affected areas

In Tamil Nadu: 28 USAR teams with 944 personnel; 102 boats deployed, more than 5000 people rescued in Pondicherry: 02 USAR teams with 70 personnel, 08 boats deployed. In addition to above, 4 NDRF Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams each from NDRF base Patna (Bihar) and Pune(Maharashtra) are likely to be airlifted to Rajauli, Naval Base Arakkonam, Tamil Nadu. The operation is still in progress. Home Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed that 269 people had died in the floods.

Air Force and Army choppers have also been pressed into the relief and rescue mission. Several people stranded in waterlogged areas have been rescued during regular sorties conducted by the Air Force and Army helicopters. Food packets, ration and other items of daily needs have been air dropped the worst-hit areas.

Three cargo transport aircraft C-130s of the Indian Air Force (IAF) have been flown from the Hindon air base in Ghaziabad to Tirupati along with the NDRF personnel and relief material.

The Navy has deployed three flood relief teams so far and also launched a helpline: 044-25394240

Chennai was declared a disaster zone on Wednesday. According to sources, as many as 35 lakes are flowing above the red mark, raising fears of more flooding.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured all help and cooperation will be extended to the flood victims, Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday announced that state-owned telecommunication company BSNL will provide free service its customers in Chennai for one week starting today.

The Bengaluru-Chennai road has now been opened. Several students and migrants are stranded at the railway stations.

The weather office in Chennai has predicted more rains in Tamil Nadu over the next 24 hours due to presence of a low pressure in Bay of Bengal. Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Nilgiris districts may witness very heavy rainfall. IAF chopper dropped food packets for stranded locals.

The Central Government has released Rs 940.92 crores for relief operations: Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha. Chennai airport will remain shut till December 6. Nearly 700 passengers will be airlifted from Chennai to Hyderabad by the Air Force on Thursday.