As 35 Lakes Breach Their Banks, Chennai Goes Under Again Complete Breakdown of Essential Services; Arterial Roads Become Unmotorable; Most Bus Routes Remain Inundated
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CHENNAI 2 | CITY THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015 Order to demolish buildings set aside Unsung artists behind classic musicals Questioning the government’s urgency in seeking to demolish the second block of Thillana Mohanambal not only showcased Sivaji Ganesan's talent, but also the Trust Heights’ apartments in Moulivakkam while not acting on other such buildings, brilliance of T.S. Balaiah and K. Sarangapani. The thavil players behind the scenes the High Court wondered if it was witnessing “shadow boxing” >> Page 7 were Thevur T.S. Santhanam and Thiruvidaimarudhur T.V. Venkatesan >> Page 6 As 35 lakes breach their banks, Chennai goes under again Complete breakdown of essential services; arterial roads become unmotorable; most bus routes remain inundated. Residents scramble for safety again On gloomy day, MRTS services a ray of hope R. SRIKANTH AND The Mass Rapid Transit SUNITHA SEKAR System (MRTS) services from Chennai Beach to Vela- CHENNAI: The heavy rain that chery and train services to lashed the city and suburbs Thiruvallur and Gummidi- brought road traffic to a grind- poondi were operated, but ing halt but the operation of with delays. suburban train services on all As the MRTS is on an ele- sections for a good part of the vated stretch for a major por- day was a relief to residents. tion and the Velachery rail- However, train services be- way station was not flooded, tween Chennai Beach and trains could be operated nor- Tambaram were hit due to mally, said a Southern Rail- flooding of suburban plat- way official. Due to flooding forms at Tambaram. of railway tracks on the Tam- A senior official of the baram-Villupuram section, Southern Railway said train the Southern Railway can- Inundated roads saw heavy traffic logjams. A scene at Gandhi Irwin Road. (Right) Residents wade through water in Keelkattalai after the lake there breached — Photo: R. Ragu services between Chennai celled 31 long-distance trains Beach and Tambaram were which were to start from ALOYSIUS XAVIER LOPEZ city was completely battered, residents to 99 relief camps in and Rajiv Gandhi Salai. pakkam, said he had been liv- “It is the fourth time that terminated at Pallavaram be- Chennai Egmore. 12, long dis- AND SUNITHA SEKAR having received wounds that Kancheepuram district. But Most of the 471 bus route ing in the area for 40 years but water is entering our house tween 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. be- tance trains were diverted. would take a long time to heal. lakhs of residents are ma- roads in Chennai Corporation this was the first time his this monsoon. We have just cause platforms 1 to 4 were Several flights were de- CHENNAI: Continuous rain since Arterial roads became un- rooned in the southern sub- limits remained inundated. house was flooded with knee- locked it and moved upstairs. flooded at Tambaram station. layed by the heavy rain. the early hours of Tuesday led motorable, leaving thousands urbs. All roads are inundated, Seven subways including deep water. There is no respite for any of But, train services from Chen- Airport sources said from to the breaching of 35 major of commuters stranded and disrupting traffic. We are un- Pazhavanthangal, Thillai “Most of our valuables are us here,” she added. nai Beach to Chengalpattu early morning on Tuesday, lakes, mostly in the southern residents marooned. able to take food packets to Ganga Nagar, St.Thomas gone. We don’t know how to Many by-lanes in Madipak- and Thirumalpur proceeding most flights were affected. parts of the Chennai Metro- The lakes that breached in- marooned residents,” said an Mount, Meenambakkam, Ga- manage the situation here. kam, Hindu Colony and via Tambaram were operated Several flights from the air- politan Area, rendering thou- clude Kalavakkam, Thirukaz- official. nesapuram, Duraisamy and The Madipakkam lake is al- Lakshmi Nagar in Nanganal- with delayed arrival and de- port including those of Air In- sands of residents homeless. hukundram, Korapattu, Sho- Traffic on arterial roads Rangarajapuram were closed most full now,” he added. lur, Ram Nagar in Velachery parture, he added. dia, Jet Airways and IndiGo to There was also a complete nalur, Perungalathur, such as GST Road, Rajiv for traffic. In Ram Nagar North in Ma- and Sriram Nagar in Kotturpu- S. Murugan, a resident of various cities including Ko- breakdown of essential ser- Thenmelpakkam, Irumpuliy- Gandhi Salai, East Coast Several residents of south dipakkam, many residents left ram had severe waterlogging. Civil Aviation Colony, Nanga- chi, Colombo, Delhi, Pune, vices. Those who travelled to ur, Peerkankaranai, Keelkatta- Road, Outer Ring Road and Chennai who had just carried their homes to safer places as Radhika, a resident of Vela- nallur, said it took him more Bangalore, Hyderabad, Singa- work with great difficulty lai, Pallavaram, Pallikaranai Poonamalle High Road was out repairs in their flooded water was at least three feet chery, said her compound wall than two hours to reach the pore, Kolkata, Port Blair and were, on their way back home, and Mudichur. thrown out of gear. The traffic houses, found to their chagrin high, as early as afternoon. had collapsed this monsoon. Palavanthangal railway sta- Kuala Lumpur were delayed. stranded mid-way as most of “In addition to this, minor police diverted traffic on arte- that their houses were flood- Sandhya Shivakumar said “The rains have not stopped tion from Chengalpattu be- Also, those flights arriving the transport services went breaches have also occurred rial roads, advising motorists ed again. they sent her father-in-law to and we just don’t know how to cause the train was stopped at from Mumbai, Delhi, Abu into a tailspin. in most of the other waterbo- to avoid stretches such as R. Nagarajan, a resident of her relatives’ house as soon as handle the situation here,” she various points along the Dhabi, Pune and Hyderabad When the day ended, the dies. We have taken 23000 GST Road, East Coast Road New Kuberan Nagar in Madi- water entered her house. added. route. landed late. MTC services hit, traffic jams proliferate SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Meanwhile, a senior MTC official claimed that many CHENNAI: Due to sluggish traffic buses were stuck in the jam. movement, commuters were “The vehicles were not stuck on the roads for hours moving freely in some parts on end. Since the MTC bus of the city like Saidapet. We services were affected, many thought of improving the ser- turned to train services to re- vices once the rain stopped. ach their respective destina- But it never happened,” said tions. However, train services an official. were also hit on certain sec- Residents were also left in tions. the lurch as cab services were The continuous rains left not available. “None of the many parts of the city inun- drivers were willing to take dated. risks and spoil their cars. Be- “I left Sardar Patel Road Residents not only waited for a long time to get buses but also sides, many autorickshaws around 2.30 p.m. and headed struggled while boarding — Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam were also not plying as water for Anna Salai. But, by 4.15 entered the vehicles,” said C. p.m., I had reached only North Salai. I then took an MRTS police officer. Cyril, a resident of Santhome. Boag Road. The vehicles were service to reach my house in The entire traffic police A traffic police officer said moving very slowly,” said An- Mandavelli,” he said. force was on the road trying that had they ensured that uradha Raghuraman, a home- According to police offi- to ensure the free flow of ve- traffic was smooth on the ar- maker. Sudeesh, a marketing cers, often, water entered the hicles. “A holiday should have terial roads. “We diverted all executive, complained that engines and exhaust pipes of been declared for all govern- the buses through the Banga- bus services were affected. vehicles. “In Vadapalani, Sai- ment offices. This would have lore Highway and they went “I waited for nearly an hour dapet and T. 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