Chennai Floods: Schools Closed, Trains Cancelled; Milk & Drinking Water Shortage Adds to City's Woes

Chennai Rain, Cyclone Michaung Updates: Residents are still grappling with stagnant water and power disruption in parts of Tamil Nadu’s Chennai and its suburbs, three days after Cyclone Michuang wreaked havoc in the metropolis and neighbouring districts, even as civic agency personnel stepped up relief and rehabilitation efforts.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Tamil Nadu on Thursday to take stock of the damage caused by floods. He conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas and surveyed Chennai and nearby areas hit by torrential rains. The Union Minister also called on CM MK Stalin at the Secretariat in Chennai and he was briefed on the cyclone, the damage caused and the relief needed from the Centre.

Chennai, Kancheepuram, Chengelpet and Tiruvallur in northern Tamil Nadu were hit by the cyclone and heavy inundation.

PM Modi Asks MHA to Release in Advance Centre’s Contribution to SDRF

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs to release in advance the second installment of the Centre’s contribution to the SDRF of Rs 493.60 to Andhra Pradesh and Rs 450 crore to Tamil Nadu in view of floods caused by cyclone Michaung.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah shared this in a post on X.

The prime minister has approved the first urban flood mitigation project of Rs 561.29 crore for Integrated Urban Flood Management Activities for Chennai Basin Project under the National Disaster Mitigation Fund (NDMF), which also includes central assistance of Rs 500 crore, Shah said.

Schools & Colleges Closed

Chief Minister MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu government has extended the holiday for all schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, and Chengalpattu till Thursday due to severe flooding in several parts of these districts. Educational institutes in six taluks — Pallavaram, Tambaram, Vandalur, Thiruporur, Chengalpattu, and Thirukazhukundram — will remain closed today.

Shortage Of Milk And Other Essential Commodities

Due to severe flooding, the residents across Chennai are facing a shortage of milk, drinking water and other essential commodities. The shortage is due to logistics issues, as the supply chain was disrupted due to the deluge. The shortage has been made worse by people’s panic buying.

Death Toll Climbs To 17

An estimated 17 people, most of them in Chennai, have died in the flooding that was triggered by the torrential rains that preceded the cyclone, which made landfall in Andhra Pradesh state on Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, people in Chennai’s Vyasarpadi area staged a protest demanding the restoration of the electricity supply. The cyclone-triggered heavy rainfall had led to inundation in localities including Vyasarpadi, Velachery and Tambaram.

Rescuers used inflatable rafts and ropes to pluck people out of their homes in Chennai amid widespread flooding. People in areas surrounded by water called for help, including pressing more boats to ferry people to higher ground.

CM Visited Affected Areas

Chief Minister M K Stalin visited some of the affected areas and distributed food and essential commodities to people put up at a relief centre in the city. He inspected activities undertaken by the city civic body to drain water. He also wrote to the Centre seeking an interim flood relief of Rs 5,060 crore to tide over the situation.

Air Force helicopters also dropped food rations to people stranded in flooded homes. The flood relief teams of the Navy also continue to assist the stranded people in submerged colonies of Pallikaranai, Thoraipakkam, Perumbakkam and Velachery in Chennai. More than 700 people were shifted to safer locations by the teams.

“There are pockets of low-lying areas,” said Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner Dr. J. Radhakrishnan. “We hope to clear it soon.”

Southern Railways Cancles 15 Trains

Southern Railways on Thursday cancelled as many as 15 trains amid heavy rainfall and water logging in Chennai. The railway authorities advised passengers to take note of the affected trains and plan their journeys accordingly.

The cancelled trains include Chennai Egmore-Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Special; Tirunelveli-Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Special; Dr MGR Central – Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Adaman Express; Dr MGR Central – Vijayawada Vande Bharat Express; Dr MGR Central – Mysuru Vande Bharat Express; Dr MGR Central – Mysuru Shatabdi Express; Dr MGR Central – Coimbatore Kovai Express; Dr MGR Central – KSR Bengaluru Brindavan Express; Dr MGR Central – Tirupati Express;; Tirupati – Dr MGR Central Express; Dr MGR Central – Tirupati Express; Tirupati – Dr MGR Central Express; Dr MGR Central – Coimbatore Shatabdi Express; Dr MGR Central – Vijayawada Jan Shatabdi Express; Dr MGR Central – KSR Bengaluru Double Decker Express; Chennai Egmore – Tirunelveli Vande Bharat Special and Tirunelveli – Chennai Egmore Vande Bharat Special.

However, the railways informed that the suburban trains in Chennai Central-Arakkonam, Chennai Beach-Chengalpattu and Chintadripet -Velachery (MRTS) sections would run as per their scheduled timings.

Situation Being Back Memories In 2015 Deluge

This week’s floods in Chennai brought back memories of the extensive damage caused by floods eight years ago which killed around 290 people.

Some residents questioned the ability of the city’s infrastructure to handle extreme weather. State Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking 50.6 billion rupees for the damage.

Raj Bhagat P, a civil engineer and geo-analytics expert said better stormwater drainage systems in the city would not have been able to prevent the flooding.

“This solution would have helped a lot in moderate and heavy rainfall, but not in very heavy and extremely heavy rains,” he said.

Situation In Andhra Better

In Andhra Pradesh, which bore the brunt of the cyclone, the damage was relatively contained, with roads damaged and trees uprooted as big waves crashed into the coast.

However, destructive winds and heavy rains that accompanied the cyclone flattened thousands of acres of standing crops, inflicting huge losses on farmers in the state. While the state government has assured compensation, the tenant farmers, a severely affected lot are not hopeful of relief as they believe it may not reach them.

They said the landowners may not share the relief sums with them. According to information shared by the Nellore district administration, agricultural crops on more than 8,400 acres and horticultural crops on 1,700 acres were damaged.