With the Met office predicting 25cm of rain on Wednesday , Greater Chennai Corporation officials are leaving no stone unturned to prevent a repeat of last December's floods.
Keeping in mind the heavy rain forecast for Chennai, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel have reached Chennai with 24 boats. Additional boats of fisherman have also been deployed in areas that were affected during the floods last December.
The government has appointed one IAS officer for every zone of Greater Chennai Corporation to deal with any crisis that may arise on account of the heavy rains. The Met department has announced that it is a deep depression that could intensify into cyclonic storm.
"We are expecting the depression to move northeast-ward by today evening, away from Tamil Nadu coast. The north of Tamil Nadu is likely to receive far heavier rainfall than the rest of the state. This is not unusual and we had predicted this a few days ago, so there's nothing to worry. The NDRF coming in is simply a formative precaution. We may also get rainfall tomorrow, but it is likely to be scant. It is moving away from the coast," said Balachander, Met Department chief, to The News Minute.
Officials who worked during the December floods have been posted in the same area now.
All subways are being monitored for water stagnation. All pumps are in running condition.
“Because the winds are supposed to be intense we are expecting tree falls. So in every zone, three teams have been formed and they will be given power saws,” said Chandra Mohan, Corporation Commissioner, to The Hindu.
In case of any tree fall, residents are requested to call Corporation helpline 1913. All relief centres have been kept in readiness and necessary provisions have been given to Amma Canteens for supply of food to affected residents.
As the Met department anticipates strong winds, the corporation has saws ready to cut tree branches and prune them. Staff will go around on trucks in every zone of the corporation to cut down dead trees and branches that could collapse in gusty conditions.
Officials say their biggest worry is subways prone to flooding. The civic body has motor pumps on the ready near such subways, which include Ganeshapuram, Perambur High Road, Villivakkam Redhills Subway and Gengu Reddy Subway .
Medical teams has also been formed to assist affected residents. All IAS officers who have been posted have reported for duty and started holding coordination meetings in their respective zones.
The Commissioner of Revenue Administration, Chepauk, has said that for all kinds of rain-related grievances, the control room no 1070 may be contacted.