Several trucks have been hired to help over 5,000 people stranded near the waterlogged areas of Chennai’s IT corridor. Two cyclones — Cyclone Nivar and Cyclone Burevi — have left a trail of damage in Tamil Nadu.
Heavy rains that pounded the city because of the cyclones have inundated several neighbourhoods, flooding homes and submerging a number of vehicles.
Locals have been left marooned for over two weeks along a 3km stretch at Chennai’s IT corridor.
Residents’ alleged excess water released from Navalur and Thazhambur lakes and illegal encroachments on the banks of these water bodies and their surroundings as responsible for these “man-made floods.”
The decision of the state government to allow construction in the area without assessing the environmental damage it would lead to has added to this pitiable situation.
The locals’ sufferings began on November 25 when Cyclone Nivar brought heavy rainfall across the city and the problem only got compounded with showers under the influence of Cyclone Burevi.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapadi K Palanisami had visited the Semmanchery area four days after Cyclone Nivar made landfall and assured a solution plan would be drawn up soon.