The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Rain causes havoc in suburbs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 04, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Rain causes havoc in suburbs

Staff Reporter

Lakes breach, residents marooned again in Tambaram

IN SEARCH OF SAFER PLACE: Residents of Chitlapakkam, Sembakkam, Mahalakshmi Nagar and nearby areas leave their houses after water overflowing from lakes entered their localities. — Photo : A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM: The heavy rain on Friday caused havoc in the southern suburbs, breaching lakes and crippling normal life. Most suburban colonies, from where water had begun to recede after a fortnight, were marooned once again.

Residents remained awake throughout the night and moved to safer ground on Saturday morning. Houses were damaged in places near lakes, such as West Tambaram `pazhaya eri', and in Pammal, Hasthinapuram and Keelkattalai.

Residents of places adjoining Chitlapakkam began to panic as waist-deep water entered their houses following overflows from the Selaiyur lake. The local body machinery in Pallavaram had to battle breaches in Moovarasampet, Keelkattalai, Zamin Raayapettai `periya eri', Hasthinapuram and Nemilichery lakes.

P. Dhan Singh, chairman, Pallavaram Municipality, said the local body work force was busy plugging breaches. They had been successful in most places except Nemilichery and Raayapettai lakes where the breaches were 20 feet deep and 20 feet wide.

Most of the rainwater stored in Nedunkundram lake near Vandalur was drained following damage to the kalangal (outlet point) early on Saturday.

The sand bags that protected the breached bund were thrown several hundred metres as water gushed out.

Localities in Peerkankaranai, Sadanandapuram and Mappedu, apart from Nedunkundram, were severely affected.

Children living on the ground floor of the Madras Social Service Guild building were shifted to the first floor as water entered the premises, said Balaji Thangavel, an office-bearer at the institute.

Joint operation

The Army and St. Thomas Mount district police in a joint operation rescued about 150 people who were stranded at Harita Enclave in CTO Colony, Third Street, West Tambaram, including 75 inmates of an orphanage and 28 senior citizens. The others would be rescued on Sunday morning with motor boats. On Saturday row boats ferried the marooned to safety.

Twenty-four mentally challenged children and 32 elderly residents of Udhavum Ullam were rescued by a team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police, St. Thomas Mount, Thamaraikannan, on Saturday morning.

Firemen rescued 250 people in Ram Nagar and Srinivasan Nagar in Madipakkam. Seven rubber and fibre boats were deployed, officials said. Rescue operations will resume on Sunday morning.

Electrocuted

Two men were electrocuted when they came in contact with live wires that had snapped due to the incessant rain. At Mookambigai Nagar near Mangadu, 55-year-old S. Parasuraman died instantly when he stepped on a live wire in stagnant water. The incident occurred at 5.30 a.m.

Elsewhere, S. Ayyappan, working in a private company in Guindy Industrial Estate, was killed on the spot when he came in contact with a live wire while crossing GST Road at Chromepet on Saturday.

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