Rain fury: 75,000 police personnel ready for emergency in TN

Chennai, Nov 11 (IANS) A total of 75,000 police personnel drawn from local police, armed reserve, Tamil Nadu Special Police and Home Guards gave been kept ready in the wake of heavy rains lashing Chennai and adjoining districts, Tamil Nadu Director General of Police C. Sylendra Babu said on Thursday.

250 special teams of police have been deployed along with the 350 personnel of the Coastal security group with rescue boats, he said in a statement.

Several areas in Chennai including Kolathur, the constituency of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin are inundated. People from low-lying areas have been evacuated.

State Disaster Response Force with rescue boats, wood cutting machines, and drilling machines have also been deployed.

Meanwhile, almost the entire South Chennai area has reported power failure mostly due to cable fault and feeder trappings, a statement from the The Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) said. In several places, Tangedco has shut down the service as a precautionary measure.

Tripping in the main feeder from the Perungadi substation has caused power cuts in areas served under the Information technology corridor, it said.

Velachery, Anakaputhur, Shankar Nagar in Pammal, Basant Nagar, Taramani, and Adayar have been shut down of power as a precautionary measure due to waterlogging and inundation.

Several families from T- Nagar, Alwarpet, West Mambalam areas have shifted to business hotels in the city following long power cuts and waterlogging. Internet failure at homes has also led to people shifting stay to hotels.

Manonmani. G, a software engineer at West Mambalam, said that she shifted her family to a business hotel after the overhead tanks dried up following power shortage. She said," With rains and power cuts predicted this week, we will stay at the hotel and return home only after the water recedes. We have taken two rooms and are comfortable now and I can work with internet functioning smoothly."

People are willing to shell out as much as Rs 3,000 to 4,000 for a comfortable stay and with availability of food, most are treating this as a vacation from the daily routine.

K.P. Ramakrishnan, a software consultant while speaking to IANS said, "We are at least lucky that we can get a room at a price of Rs 3,000 to 4,000. This has helped us survive the rains and power cuts and lack of water at our apartment. More than this I am catering to clients in US and UK and if the internet is disrupted my work is affected. As far as my parents, wife, and children are concerned they are enjoying a vacation. So it's comfortable and we will have to deal with the rain-affected issues after water recedes."