Chennai residents a worried, harried lot

Unprecedented rain in the last two weeks triggered by low-pressure areas and depressions has left Chennaiites scared and worried.

“The situation is grim, terrible and scary. God knows what will happen if it is going to rain for another two days as predicted by weather office,” an exasperated 61-year-old media professional V Venkataramana told Deccan Herald from Chennai.

“I could not go to my apartment in upmarket Kotturpuram in southwest Chennai on Wednesday night. Roads are under water and Neelkant apartment is flooded up to the first floor. People staying in ground floor and first floor had moved to their friends’ and relatives’ places fearing flooding,” he added.

“As commodities, milk and drinking water are difficult to  get, three to four families in my apartment have started cooking food together. They can save on fuel and scarce food articles. People in many of the nearby apartments are also doing the same. On Wednesday, a couple of departmental stores like Heritage and Nilgiris sold water and milk and they were over in no time,” he added.

He is a worried man as his octogenarian mother is stuck in his apartment. “My first concern is to rescue and move her to a safe place. Fortunately, people in the flat have been attending to her,” he said. However, his worry is there is no power and drinking water in the apartment for more than 24 hours.

He said the worst-affected in the deluge are those living in temporary accommodation. In most flooded areas, hotels and shops are closed and those depending on eateries are having a tough time.

He said there was waist-deep water on Nunbambakkam High Road. There is very little vehicular movement on the roads. With the government declaring holiday for schools and offices, there were hardly people on the road on Thursday.

He said patients had to be evacuated from a leading multi-speciality hospital as the water entered the premises on Wednesday.

Patients are the worst-affected in this unprecedented deluge. There have been complaints of patients suffering because of lack of medicines and food and timely medicare.

The experience of 45-year-old Brinda Jayaram was very scary. She was driving her four-wheeler to her office on Mount Road . As her car swayed in swirling waters, she dashed against an autorickshaw. She had to accelerate to control the vehicle and she was thanking her stars for having made it to the office, her colleague Ramarao, working in a multi-national company, said.

Ramarao, who is 58, managed to take a bus to the office and return home with some difficulty on Wednesday.

“I stay in Mylapore in South Chennai and fortunately we are least affected. I know some parts of Mylapore are also flooded. We are lucky that we have power supply and sufficient drinking water. I am worried as I have planned a trip outside Chennai on Sunday. I am keeping my fingers crossed. Only saving grace is that there is a let up in rain since Wednesday night,” he said on Thursday morning.

The two are lucky as they have access to power, water and mobile phones. Lakhs of people are suffering as they have been cut off from rest of the world as Chennai has virtually turned into an island.