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The government has announced that people can travel in MTC buses free of cost for four days

TN update The worst is over says Met department as Chennai recovers slowlyNishanth Krish
news Chennai Rains Saturday, December 05, 2015 - 07:56
Written by  TNM Staff

Even though the heavy rains have stopped in various parts of Tamil Nadu and its water-logged capital of Chennai, normalcy is still far away for most people.

Friday night saw heavy showers in some parts of Chennai but the rain has slowed down to a light trickle since.

As water receded from some parts of Chennai after some respite from the rain on Friday morning, National Highway-4 from Bengaluru to Chennai was cleared and vehicles were able to move via areas like Ramupet, Sriperumbudur, Poonamallee and CMBT.

Many private bus operators and travel services started working as per their regular schedules to transport people in and out of the city even as petrol bunks and other shops opened up in the city.

The government has also announced that passengers can travel in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses free of cost for four days beginning Saturday.

Rescue and relief operations are still underway in full swing, even as reports suggested that the Chennai airport would partially resume flight operations from Saturday after the runway was found to be safe for landings and takeoffs.

The Meteorological department has predicted that Chennai will see 'rain' on Saturday while other areas of Tamil Nadu like Cuddalore and Puducherry will see 'very heavy rain'.  

Chennai will continue to receive intermittent showers for the next couple of days but there will be no heavy rain, the MET department said.

However, areas like Salem, Madurai and Dharmapuri are predicted to remain dry.

Read: Deciphering the Chennai floods in three maps and an overview

Firstpost reported that the break in rains resulted in a sharp fall in the discharge of waters from Chembarapakkam, Pondi and Puzhal lakes leading to reduction in the water levels of the two rivers that criss-cross the city.

However, areas like Thiruvanmiyur, Nesappakkam, Saidapet, West Mambalam, Ramapural, Valasaravakkam and velacherry are still seeing water logged streets.

Power and water remained a luxury in many areas while commodities like milk, batteries, candles and even vegetable were sold for high prices, leaving many of the people to depend on help from the volunteers.

Many areas were also destroyed and left in ruins as the water receded and the damage unfolded.

Read: Shocking tales of destruction and soaring prices: Ekkaduthangal reels under Chennai floods

NDTV reported that on Friday, airfares for flights departing from Bengaluru skyrocketed as people were making their way to the city from Chennai before flying out from there. National carrier Air India was charging fares as high as Rs 51,750, while Jet Airways was charging Rs 47,000.

Read: Ground Report: As Chennai limps back to normalcy, middle-class people pour out woes in anger

Thousands of people continued offering help and requesting for assistance on social media. These were picked up by social media users and circulated widely, eventually reaching the government and other rescue workers.

People also took to Facebook and Twitter to coordinate the appeals for help and passing on calls to volunteers and rescue workers.

Read: Chennai Floods: How social media helped in getting aid to pregnant women

Mobile connectivity was still a nightmare for the residents as most networks were down, with broken signals being received at some spots, especially at higher  locations like rooftops.

"The low pressure area on Wednesday moved over to southwest Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka, off Tamil Nadu coast. Due to this, there will not be heavy rain in the northern districts but once in a while there will be some showers in Chennai and nearby districts," a senior official of the Met department told the Times of India.

"Chennai, especially the southern areas of city, will receive rainfall but it will be only for a few hours. Rainfall will again start on December 5 night but it will not be for more than 1 hour at a time. Even this will stop on December 7 morning," Skymet weather chief meteorologist Mahesh Palawat told the newspaper.

 

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