Chennai in distress as several areas still inaccessible to rescuers

Over 36 hours after rains stopped, several localities in northern and southern parts of Chennai continued to be underwater on Wednesday with rescue personnel finding it difficult to reach marooned areas and rescue workers stuck in flooded homes, even as the city reeled under shortage of milk, drinking water, and other essential items.

Chennai: Over 36 hours after rains stopped, several localities in northern and southern parts of this metropolis continued to be underwater on Wednesday with rescue personnel finding it difficult to reach marooned areas and rescue workers stuck in flooded homes, even as the city reeled under shortage of milk, drinking water, and other essential items.

Patience turned into anger with angry residents in many parts of the city taking to the streets to protest against the non-restoration of power supply and scarce availability of essential items.

In Washermenpet in north Chennai, Minister P K Sekarbabu was gheraoed by people who complained to him about the government’s inability to restore power and drain water out from their locality in time. Protests were also held in Choolaimedu, Velachery, and other localities.

Social media platforms, especially X, were once again inundated with requests for rescue, food packets, and drinking water, as government assistance failed to reach them for over 36 hours. Residents of Perumbakkam, Pallikaranai, Thoraipakkam, Madipakkam, and Chemancherry were evacuated using boats, but the number of people rescued was very low compared to those still stranded.

The situation was no better in the northern parts of the city such as Thondairpet, Washermenpet, Ennore, and Manali, where thousands of people were confined to their homes for the third consecutive day without much assistance, despite the government stating that over 14 ministers were overseeing the relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said as many as 234 boats have been deployed in the city to reach marooned areas and help rescue people from their homes, even as the government mobilised rescue personnel and electricity workers from other districts to help restore normalcy in Chennai.

Widespread complaints about a shortage of milk and drinking water were received from across the city, with people expressing dissatisfaction that the government didn’t adequately prepare to handle the aftermath of the cyclone, which drenched the metropolis and its suburbs with 60 cm of rainfall in 48 hours.

“Aavin milk wasn’t delivered to me at home. Neither we could lay our hands on a milk packet elsewhere. I have elders at home who need milk. But we couldn’t buy any despite travelling 3 km,” Uma, a resident of Ayanavaram, told DH.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, who deputed more ministers to oversee the rescue work, acknowledged that water has not receded from many suburbs. “A lot of people are working on the ground to ensure that people get essential items without any difficulty. We are continuing our field work in the hope that things will be normal soon,” he said.

Stalin also wrote to Prime Minister Modi seeking an immediate relief of Rs 5,000 crores for taking up relief activities in Chennai and its neighbouring districts.

Meena mentioned that approximately 41,406 people have taken refuge in 172 relief centres in Chennai. Helicopters conducted four sorties on Wednesday to distribute food packets to individuals in areas that were inaccessible until then. The senior bureaucrat stated that it would take a couple of days to safely rescue everyone stranded in areas like Perumbakkam and Pallikaranai.

“The situation is better than yesterday. It will take a maximum of two days but we will try to rescue people by Thursday,” he said.

Regarding the milk shortage, Meena mentioned that about 14 lakh litres of milk were supplied on Wednesday against the regular demand of 19 lakh litres in the city, and normalcy is expected to be restored on Thursday.

As for the fallen trees in the city area, of the 390 trees, over 340 have been cleared, and routine bus services have resumed, according to the government. Additionally, electricity supply has been restored to 96 per cent of the city's localities.