Army Chief undertakes aerial survey of flood-hit areas
Army Chief undertakes aerial survey of flood-hit areas
Flood-ravaged Chennai and its suburbs enjoyed further respite from rains on Saturday but residents battled scarcity and high prices of essential commodities even as communication and train services were partially restored and day-time air services are to resume Sunday.
PM Narendra Modi announced '2 lakh each for the next of kin of those who died in Tamil Nadu floods.Announcing the start of day-time domestic commercial operations, the Airports Authority of India said on Saturday night that the decision on night operations would be taken on Sunday. Only technical flights and ferry services were operated on Saturday.
However, intermittent rains and an overcast sky kept the people on their tenterhooks while waters receded in a number of areas. The regional meteorological centre has forecast light rains in the next 24 hours for the city and suburbs.
Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, Mr S.R. Ramanan told reporters that heavy rains were possible in the coastal and southern districts of the state. He has advised fishermen of southern coastal districts against venturing into sea for fishing.
At least 245 people have died in rain-related incidents since October one. The worst-hit city and suburbs and Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts took a pounding on Tuesday when a large number of areas were flooded. The deluge destroyed crucial road and rail links, shutdown the airport, snapped power and telecom lines and left lakhs of people stranded.
In a big relief to the hapless residents, supply of milk and vegetables picked up pace on Saturday but there were complaints of scarcity in several places coupled with high prices for essentials.
Mobile phone and internet services were getting restored in a staggered manner in several parts of the city. Several areas complained of continued power outage.
Bringing cheers to stranded passengers, southern Railway announced resumption of services to several inter-State destinations including Bengaluru and Mysore from here, effective Sunday.
Meanwhile, Army Chief General Dalbir Singh undertook an aerial survey of the worst flood hit areas here and assured that troops would continue to take up rescue efforts till such time it was needed by the state.
Flights set to resume today
Domestic passenger flight operations from Chennai airport, which were suspended, will resume from Sunday morning. The runway, however, will be available only for day-time operations and a decision regarding full-fledged operations will be taken by the aviation regulator DGCA, AAI said on Saturday night. The AAI had ealier decided to shut the airport till December
