Urban News

The Deccan Chronicle  07.12.2010

Chennai, Dec. 6: North Chennai reeled under rain and flood on Monday and traffic was disrupted for quite a while in the Vysarpadi Jeeva and Ganesapuram bridges.
The city corporation pressed into service about 150 motor pumps to drain the storm water and prevent traffic snarls. However the suburbs were not attended to, as the municipalities did not take up any work to clear the roads.
Ambattur and Avadi were the worst hit with battered roads, water logging and frequent power disruption that left residents cursing their fate. The mayor, Mr. M. Subramanian, visited the flood affected areas from early in the morning till late in the night.
“We got 10 centimetre rain in a short span without any halt leading to water logging,” he told reporters after inspecting north Chennai.
The field staff has fanned out to low lying areas and so far food were served to about 70,000 people, he said.
Meanwhile thousands of passengers were stranded at various railway stations in the Chennai Beach – Chengalpattu section.
At least 20 trains including express and suburban services were disrupted on Monday morning because of the rains and the passengers were caught unawares.
Railway employees used motor pumps to remove storm water from the main line which had been inundated. The express trains were diverted through the suburban lines because of this.
In a bid to help the stranded passengers, the railways also converted the super fast EMU trains in to normal trains so that the locomotives can halt at all stations.
A senior corporation official said special squads were monitoring the city round-the-clock and more than 17 avenue trees that uprooted were cleared within two hours.
“We are coordinating with the fire service and the city police,” he said. “Fibre boats and community centres are being kept ready to rescue and accommodate people in case of emergency.”