06 16 17 41 06 17 17 42 06 17 17 42 23 38 11 12 00 00 12 ......feb 12, 2015  · cm yk ch-ch the...

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| 3THE HINDU WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2015

CHENNAI CITY

Published by N. Ram at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., and Printed by N. Krishnan at Plot B-6 & B-7, CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin: 603209. Editor: Malini Parthasarathy (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

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C H E N N A I

Dec 02,Wed Dec 03,Thu Dec 04,FriRISE 06 16 SET 17 41 RISE 06 17 SET 17 42 RISE 06 17 SET 17 42

RISE 23 38 SET 11 12 RISE 00 00 SET 12 12 RISE 00 25 SET 12 52

RELIGIONRamayanam: R. Krishnamurthy, SriSankara Gurukulam, 8/20, C.P. Ra-maswamy St., Abhiramapuram, 7p.m.Bhagavatham: Suprajananda, Ra-makrishna Math, Mylapore, 5-30p.m.; B. Sundarkumar, P.S.B. MainHall, Park Rd., near SBOA School, An-na Nagar West, 6-30 p.m.Thiruppavai: T.G. Narayanaswamy,273-B, 2nd Main Rd., Natesa Nagar,Virugambakkam, 7 p.m.Jeevanmukti Vivekam: K.S. Mahes-waran, Sri Sankara Gurukulam, 8/20,C.P. Ramaswamy St., Abhiramapu-ram, 5 p.m.

CULTUREA.K.P. Fine Arts: Inauguration ofMusic and Dance festival, Vani Mahal,G.N. Chetty Rd., T.Nagar, 6 p.m.

GENERALShree Geeta Bhavan Trust: MassWedding of 38 couples of differentlyabled/deserving men/women fromthe economically weaker sections,Minister B. Valarmathi participates,Avvai Shanmugam Salai, Gopalapu-ram, 8-30 a.m.Gandhi Study Centre: Presentationof T.D. Tirumalai memorial prizes andawards, Thakkar Bapa VidyalayaCampus, Venkatnarayana Rd., T.Na-gar, 11 a.m.Dr. Ambedkar Academy The Peo-

ple’s Educational Trust: Meeting,Kavery Colony, 24th St., Anna NagarEast, 6-30 p.m.

Narcotics Anonymous: Meeting,Staying Clean Group, St. LourdesChurch, Don Bosco School, Peram-bur, 7 p.m.

Al-Anon: Meetings, Police Commu-nity Hall, Kondithope, Walltax Rd.;Shrine of Divine Mercy Church, AnnaNagar East, Near Chinthamani; St. An-drews Church, Gandhi Rd., Gudu-vancheri; Ambedkar Manram, AshokNagar; The Lady of the Light Church,Luz, Mylapore; and Jacob MHSS.,Judges Colony, Periakuppam, Tiruval-lur, 7 p.m.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Meetings,Loyola MHSS., United India Colony,Kodambakkam; St. Lukes Church, An-na Nagar; Anglo Indian Association,Ponniyamman Koil St., Egmore; AnnaiVelankanni Church, Besant Nagar;C.S.I. Good Shepherd Church, Tara-mani Link Rd., Velachery; KondithopeCommunity Centre, Police Quarters,Walltax Rd.; St. Mathias Church,Kamarajar Salai, K.K. Nagar; C.S.I.Church, Moolakadai; and The Lady ofthe Light Church, Luz Church Rd., My-lapore, 7 p.m.

CHENNAI TODAY

CHENNAI: Tambaram and sur-rounding areas once againbore the brunt of the rains,with thousands of residentsforced to leave their homesagain.

Breaches in lakes in Manni-vakkam, Mudichur, Varadara-japuram and West Tambaramled to swift inundation of en-tire neighbourhoods in theirvicinity.

Breaches on the bunds ofMudichur lake caused con-siderable damage, residentssaid. Water overflowing fromthis lake flooded MudichurMain Road that connectsTambaram and Wallajahbadvia Mannivakkam and Padap-pai. People were seen travell-ing in tractors and trucksfrom their homes to saferplaces in other areas of WestTambaram.

“It is frightening. It hasbeen nearly 20 years since Icame to Chennai from Delhi.I have never seen such a rainand flooding,” said N. Arun, aresident of Mannivakkam.Madanandapuram andLakshmi Nagar were amongareas that were severely af-fected. “We rescued 1,000

people from Lakshmi Nagaralone,” P. Damodaran, presi-dent of Mudichur village pan-chayat, said.

They are also being helpedby the Coastal SecurityGroup. Meanwhile, the Citypolice have also formed sev-en exclusive teams with boatsto rescue people. “Each teamwill have ten people. Besidesthis, each police station also

has a rescue team with a trac-tor or other bigger vehicle,”said a police officer.

Patients rescuedPeople undergoing treat-

ment at Tambaram TalukGovernment Hospital wererescued after the hospital wasflooded to a level of three feetof water inside it. More than50 patients were rescued, in-

cluding those in intensivemedical care unit. Accordingto officials in Tamil Nadu Fireand Rescue Services(TNFRS) Department, over200 firemen are currently de-ployed in Tambaram and sur-rounding areas alone to res-cue the stranded. Fiveambulances have been sent tothe hospital from the city, anofficial of the State-assisted

108 ambulance service said. Apart from West Tamba-

ram, Mudichur and Varadara-japuram, other severely af-fected areas includeChromepet, Tirumudivak-kam, Vandalur and Guduvan-chery due to the breaching oflakes.

“We used our six boats andalso borrowed a few from theState Fisheries Department

to ferry residents to safety,” asenior TNFRS officer said.

Firemen rescued 46 pa-tients undergoing treatmentin Tambaram Taluk Govern-ment Hospital in Chromepetand helped them shift to otherhospitals in the city. Theywere taken on stretchers andshifted to ambulances waitingnear the entrance and wereshifted to Rajiv Gandhi Gov-

ernment Hospital, Institute ofObstetrics and Gynaecologyand Institute of Child Healthand Hospital, both in Egmore.Five patients are still strandedon the first floor at the hospi-tal, also known as ChromepetGH, and will be shifted byWednesday morning. Waterhad stagnated to a height of 5.5feet inside the hospital. AtGovernment Hospital for

Thoracic Medicine in Tamba-ram Sanatorium, there iswaist-deep water from themain entrance to the wardsand the administrative build-ing. Boats have been deployedto help patients and staff.There are more than 450 in-patients and 10 staff and care-givers in the hospital. Doctorsare hoping that the water willrecede on Wednesday.

Breaches in lakes in Mannivakkam, Mudichur, Varadarajapuram and West Tambaram led to swift inundation of entire neighbourhoods

In Semmancherry, residents leave their inundated houses; train services between Tambaram and Chennai Beach were disrupted due to waterlogging of the tracks; vehicles on the flooded Tambaram-Velacherry Main Road — PHOTO: M. KARUNAKARAN, G. KRISHNASWAMY, K.V. SRINIVASAN

It turns out to be a terrible Tuesday for southern suburbs VIVEK NARAYANAN

KANCHEEPURAM: The GrandSouthern Trunk Road (Na-tional Highway 45) betweenTambaram and Chengalpattuwas closed for traffic fromTuesday afternoon due toflooding at several points onthe 35-kilometre stretch.

Police allowed two-waytraffic on one side of the roadbetween Tambaram andChengalpattu in the morningwhen the water started flow-ing across the carriageway atNandivaram-Guduvanchery,Singaperumalkoil, Vandalurand many places. As the wa-ter flow increased later in theday, traffic was suspendedfrom 3 p.m.

Police said the possibilityof diverting traffic throughMannivakkam and Padappaito reach Oragadam did notwork out due to waterloggingon the carriageway as surpluswater from several tanksstarted overflowing.

Subsequently, mofussilbuses from Koyambedu werediverted to Sriperumpudurfrom where they were divert-ed to reach Chengalpattu viaWallajahbad, Oragadam andVallakottai.

As the water flow increased later in the day, traffic was suspended from 3 p.m.

Traffic diversions were effected on Grand Southern Trunk Road following flooding of severalparts of the arterial stretch — PHOTO: G. KRISHNASWAMY

GST Road closed for traffic V. VENKATASUBRAMANIAN

KANCHEEPURAM: J. Mutharasi, Su-perintendent of Police, Kan-cheepuram Police District,has urged residents to avoidexcursions to waterbodies.

The word of caution fol-lows many instances of peo-ple heading to lakes and tanksfilled with floodwater, out ofcuriosity.

She has also asked them notto venture out in their vehi-cles in view of the incessantdownpour and subsequentflooding.

Holiday declaredMeanwhileDistrict Collec-

tor R. Gajalakshmi has an-nounced that all educational

institutions in Kancheepuramdistrict will remain closed onDecember 2, in view of theheavy rain.

Residents asked to keepfrom waterbodies STAFF REPORTER

The Madurantakam lake inKancheepuram districtattracts a lot of visitors— PHOTO: D. GOPALAKRISHNAN

CHENNAI: This northeast mon-soon seems to be on its wayto create new records for theState.

While the previous spellsravaged Cuddalore and Pu-ducherry, the north coastaldistricts of Chennai, Tiru-vallur and Kancheepuramwere the most affected byTuesday’s torrentialdownpour.

Though there is still amonth for the monsoon towind up over the region, theState has already registered53 cm of rainfall against itsaverage of 44 cm. Chennai’srainfall missed the record ofwettest November of thecentury by 39.1 mm.

The all-time record ofheavy downpour was 1,088.4mm in November 1918.Tuesday’s incessant rainbrought nearly 15 cm overChennai till 6.30 p.m. in-ching closer to decade’shighest rainfall of 23 cm re-ceived on December 3, 2005.

Several weather stationsin Chennai, Tiruvallur andKancheepuram districts re-ceived very heavy rainfall toextremely heavy rainfall asin Chembarambakkam thatrecorded 25 cm in less than

10 hours. Weather expertsobserve that even a troughof low pressure or low-pres-sure area can influence suchhuge volume of rains with apotential of deluge. Unlike adeep depression or cyclonethat may cross the coast in aday or two, these weathersystems that persists in thesame area over the sea canimpact cloud bursts and in-tense rains. Moreover, therewas not much lull in north-east monsoon activity thisyear when the State gets res-pite with long dry spells.This indicates the volatilenature of the monsoon.

While 2015 is a strong ElNino year favouring north-east monsoon, it is not theonly contributing factor thatbrought downpour over theState. A complex interplayof global weather factorssuch as southern oscillationand Siberian High are alsoresponsible for the heavyspells, notes Y.E.A. Raj, for-mer deputy director generalof meteorology, Chennai.

There were years whenthe State received excessrainfall even without El Ni-no. The year 2005 presents aclassic example with 79 percent of surplus rains.

Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram most affected by Tuesday’s rains

Residents and cattle wade through rainwater at M.S.P.Nagar, Maduravoyal, on Tuesday — PHOTO: M. VEDHAN

This monsoon may setnew records for State K. LAKSHMI

CHENNAI: The Kancheepuramdistrict administration has es-tablished control rooms at thedistrict headquarters in Kan-cheepuram and also in Tam-baram.

People living in flood-af-fected areas can contact thesenumbers in the event of anemergency.

Kancheepuram: 044 27237107, 044 2723 7207, Tamba-ram: 94450 51077, 74017 64105,72994 35270.

Control rooms opened atTambaram, KancheepuramSTAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI: Arvind Raj postedon microblogging site Twit-ter on Tuesday asking for thesafest route to travel fromTaramani to Medavakkamand his query was met withimmediate responses frompeople cautioning himagainst travelling throughthe stretch, which was wa-terlogged.

The rains, which did notcease through the day onTuesday, saw many turn toFacebook and Twitter forhelp while being stranded intraffic or getting trapped ininundated houses. In a re-peat of what happened dur-ing the floods that crippledthe city a few weeks ago, us-ers such as @imprasath onTwitter said they had a spacefor people stranded in therain to be accommodated.

Other users such as UshaArun took to the socialmedia platform to warn peo-ple about how Rajiv Gandhi

Salai (Old MamallapuramRoad) was flooded betweenNavalur and Perungudi.

Sounding a warning aboutthe rains that would contin-ue to lash the city, the Tamil-NaduWeatherMan page onFacebook posted at 2 p.m. onTuesday that their rain up-date was a ‘Go home/ Stay athome’ update asking peopleto go home immediately in-stead of waiting for thedownpour to abate.

Photos of flooded roads inUrapakkam, Mudichur, Ava-di, Kathipara and Thoraipak-kam were shared by weatherbloggers such as ChennaiWeather and Chennaiyil OruMazhaikalam, both of whichhave a combined followingof over 26,000 people online.

A video of a pothole of Ra-jiv Gandhi Salai, not too farfrom Tidel Park — wherewater began gushing out likea fountain — went viral on-line, coming close on theheels of the road cave-in atMadhya Kailash on Monday.

Social media comes torescue of the stranded S. POORVAJA

CHENNAI: The deluge on Tues-day also saw quite a few in-spiring stories. Responsiblecitizens rose to the occasionand reached out to those indistress. There was all roundappreciation for these GoodSamaritains, as was evidenton social media.

The video of a man beingrescued after he was trappedin floodwaters on a road nearPadappai went viral onlineon Tuesday. The man, pre-sumably a pedestrian, seems

unable to move forward asrainwater gushes from oneside of the road to another.

From the traffic that hasbuilt up on one side of theroad, motorists and pedes-trians can be seen forming ahuman chain and pulling theman up from knee-deep wa-ter. “Near Vivekananda Col-lege and Gandhi Mandapam,motorists and pedestrianswere seen directing trafficand helping others walk to ahigher ground,” said K. Ma-noharan, a resident ofKotturpuram.

Video of man beingsaved goes viralSTAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI: The heavy rain hasdamaged the compound wallaround Arignar Anna Zoolog-ical Park in Vandalur. All ani-mals are safe, zoo authoritiessaid.

According to the zoo offi-cials, the wall on the 12-kmVandalur-Kelambakkam

Road, a State Highway, col-lapsed at five spots due toheavy rain. Rainwater — pri-marily surplus water over-flowing from lakes betweenVandalur and Guduvanchery— entered the zoo. Officialstold The Hindu that all ani-mals — 46 endangered spe-cies, 63 species of birds and 47varieties of mammals — were

safe in its 160 enclosures atthe zoo.

“The damage is only on theperipheral boundary of thezoo. The animals are not af-fected. The damaged wall willbe restored only after therains stop,” a senior officialsaid.

The rain has forced officialsto shut down the zoo onWednesday. But the regularmaintenance of the facilitywill be followed. Everyday, onan average, around 5,000 vis-itors come to the zoo.

“As of now, the decision toclose the zoo was taken onlyfor Wednesday. Extension ofthe closure period will bebased on weather update,” anofficial added.

Vandalur zoo to be closed todayD. MADHAVAN