Tamil Nadu floods: Wading in water 24/7, firemen save over 5,000

Chennai

: Without sleep since the rain started lashing the city, fire and rescue services personnel have been working round-the-clock to provide as much relief to citizens. Be it removing piles of debris or rescuing elderly people from marooned areas, they put in their best efforts.

With more than 300 calls a day, relief teams have been deployed all over the city. As per latest reports on Tuesday, nearly 5,000 people were rescued by fire services. Further, more than 350 residents from Perungalathur, including several patients from Global Hospitals in Sholinganallur were also rescued on Tuesday.

“Ever since the rain began we chalked out a plan and in the past two days our men have been sent to nearly 28 places across the city to rescue stranded people,” said Vijay Shekhar, Joint Director, Fire & Rescue Services.

Areas where major rescue works are going on include Chromepet, Tambaram, TTC Nagar, Kishkinda Nagar, Kotturpuram, Villivakkam and SIDCO Nagar. However, conducting rescue operations has not been an easy task especially during night. Further, problems arose as area of flooding was widespread resulting in resources becoming limited, “ said Ramesh Kudawala, Director, Fire & Rescue Services.

One area where the rescue services faced most of the difficulty was in Tambaram. “ With water levels rising up to nearly 8 feet, the rubber boats were not enough. Hence, we had to again go for mechanised boats, wherein thankfully the fisheries department came in and helped us out by providing them.” Kudawala added.

Nisha Thota, who runs Shuddha, an NGO, who has been co-ordinating with the fire brigade over the last few days in conducting relief operations, said the firefighters don’t even stop for a cup of tea, leave alone food.