TN update: As rescue comes closer to an end, state looks at rehabilitation

Meanwhile, as flood waters receded, rescue teams stumbled upon a few dead bodies inside marooned buildings
TN update: As rescue comes closer to an end, state looks at rehabilitation
TN update: As rescue comes closer to an end, state looks at rehabilitation
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Water continued receding in the water logged areas of Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu on Monday as relief operations were stepped up.

Schools and colleges are expected to remain closed on Monday as parts of the city experienced slight to heavy rain on Sunday evening.

Reports add that Chennai appeared to be split into two: one (mostly northern parts) and suburbs still under flood water and without power, and another where water levels have receded and electricity supply has been restored.

The Met department has predicted that Chennai will see slight to moderate rainfall, so will other areas like Kanchipuram, Cuddalore and Tiruvallur.

In Chennai, Manali, Semmenchery, parts of Velachery, Keelkattalai, Chenagalpet remained water logged while the stretch near Bharati Vidyalaya in Pallikarnai school was completely torn up. Some areas in Madipakkam and Ashok Nagar were also not accessible because of a downpour, but the area is safe now.

Meanwhile, as flood waters receded in some areas and rescue teams and volunteers entered, they started stumbling upon a few dead bodies inside marooned buildings.

The Hindu reported that the state government went on an overdrive to make its relief operations more visible by dispatching ministers to distribute milk and other essentials to the affected people at different locations to fend off criticism that it was doing little on the ground to alleviate the sufferings of those rendered homeless. It also brought in 2,000 sanitary workers from other Municipal Corporations to clear the city’s piled-up garbage.

Many banks including SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have decided not to impose any penalty on its Chennai customers for delay in EMI payments.

However, Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) shops selling liquor have been functioning without a stop for the past one week, even in areas that saw varied levels of flooding. In some places, women volunteers were reportedly harassed by inebriated customers.

A report in The Indian Express adds that a lack of coordination between government agencies and independent relief teams resulted in poor results as the teams did not know which area needed supplies the most.

The report went on to add:

The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which was serving as the government’s main relief centre, and hundreds of other independent centres collecting relief material remained disconnected...Also, truck-loads of relief material from other cities and states were left without any valid destination for delivery and distribution as the government had not opened any collection centre or taken any measures for coordinate their dispatch.

The city of Chennai which was marginally paralyzed by a previous spell of rainfall which lasted two weeks during the second half November was hit again by a second spell of torrential rain from the start of December leading to a situation when the Tamil Nadu government declared the city to be a disaster zone.

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