 "Chennai rains: Over 28,000 rescued; tonnes of relief supplies dispatched")
More than 28,000 people have been moved to safer locations from rain and flood-affected areas of Chennai and adjoining areas and tonnes of relief material has been dispatched to Tamil Nadu, the Centre today said.
27 truck loads of ready-to-eat meals, four lakh bottles of drinking water and other essential food items have also been sent to the state.
A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) was held here under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to review the flood situation in the state and take stock of the relief measures being done by multiple agencies like NDRF and army.
"National Disaster Response Force and armed forces sent by the government of India have rescued more than 28,000 persons. As the need for rescue has come down, the 50 NDRF teams and 13 army columns deployed are now more pressed into relief services rather than rescue," it said.
It added that road connectivity in the state has been restored and city bus services have begun functioning.
"Power supply has been restored to more than 90 per cent of the city. Railways continue to operate special intra-city and outstation services and normal services are expected to begin from Monday," it said.
NCMC was also told by officials participating in the meeting that the restoration of Chennai airport will be completed in a day or two.
"Meanwhile, the operation of the civilian flights from the Naval air Base in Arakkonam continues," it said.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said as telecom services are not fully functional in the affected areas, Sinha directed that necessary steps should be taken to restore the same at the earliest.
"Tamil Nadu government will hold a meeting with telecom service providers to sort out the issues. To make petroleum products available, the Ministry of Petroleum will facilitate the same," it said.
While the southern metropolis was "struggling to return to normalcy", in many areas, telephone landline services have been restored even as mobile services also picked up pace.
Seven truck loads of dry ready-to-eat food provided by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries have already reached Chennai and 20 more are on the way, the spokesperson said, adding Railways supplied 2 lakh bottles of drinking water and a similar volume of water is on the way.
"Three naval ships carrying relief materials also have reached Tamil Nadu," it said.
NDRF Director General O P Singh today said in Chennai the force has launched its "most massive" deployment so far as it pressed into service 50 rescue and relief teams with over 200 boats.
The Home Ministry spokesperson said Tamil Nadu's Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan informed NCMC that a big cleaning operation is being undertaken to prevent epidemics and spread of diseases post-flood.
A high-level team from the Union Health Ministry is also being sent to the state to assess the situation.
"It was agreed that post-flood dos and don'ts prepared by NDMA should be widely publicised to educate people. National Disaster Management Authority also suggested that the state government should take steps to mark the High Flood Level in all places to enable preparation of a future mitigation and preparedness plan," it said.
Gnanadesikan later thanked the central government, on behalf of the state, for providing necessary help in emergency response to face this worst ever disaster in Chennai, the spokesperson said.
NDRF said so far, its teams have evacuated more than 16,547 stranded flood victims, 30 livestock, seven bodies and distributed 27,210 food packets and 25,921 water packets in marooned areas.
"All our helplines, be it over phone, WhatsApp, Twitter or email, are 24x7 working actively and responding to the people in distress," it said.
NCMC meeting was attended by agencies and departments of Home, NDMA, Head Quarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, Power, Railways, Health, Petroleum, Air force, Food Processing, the Resident Commissioner of Tamil Nadu in Delhi along with senior TN officials through a video conferencing link.
27 truck loads of ready-to-eat meals, four lakh bottles of drinking water and other essential food items have also been sent to the state.
A meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) was held here under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha to review the flood situation in the state and take stock of the relief measures being done by multiple agencies like NDRF and army.
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An official statement said the situation is improving as Chennai did not experience heavy rainfall since yesterday and the flood waters were receding.
"National Disaster Response Force and armed forces sent by the government of India have rescued more than 28,000 persons. As the need for rescue has come down, the 50 NDRF teams and 13 army columns deployed are now more pressed into relief services rather than rescue," it said.
It added that road connectivity in the state has been restored and city bus services have begun functioning.
"Power supply has been restored to more than 90 per cent of the city. Railways continue to operate special intra-city and outstation services and normal services are expected to begin from Monday," it said.
NCMC was also told by officials participating in the meeting that the restoration of Chennai airport will be completed in a day or two.
"Meanwhile, the operation of the civilian flights from the Naval air Base in Arakkonam continues," it said.
A Home Ministry spokesperson said as telecom services are not fully functional in the affected areas, Sinha directed that necessary steps should be taken to restore the same at the earliest.
"Tamil Nadu government will hold a meeting with telecom service providers to sort out the issues. To make petroleum products available, the Ministry of Petroleum will facilitate the same," it said.
While the southern metropolis was "struggling to return to normalcy", in many areas, telephone landline services have been restored even as mobile services also picked up pace.
Seven truck loads of dry ready-to-eat food provided by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries have already reached Chennai and 20 more are on the way, the spokesperson said, adding Railways supplied 2 lakh bottles of drinking water and a similar volume of water is on the way.
"Three naval ships carrying relief materials also have reached Tamil Nadu," it said.
NDRF Director General O P Singh today said in Chennai the force has launched its "most massive" deployment so far as it pressed into service 50 rescue and relief teams with over 200 boats.
The Home Ministry spokesperson said Tamil Nadu's Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan informed NCMC that a big cleaning operation is being undertaken to prevent epidemics and spread of diseases post-flood.
A high-level team from the Union Health Ministry is also being sent to the state to assess the situation.
"It was agreed that post-flood dos and don'ts prepared by NDMA should be widely publicised to educate people. National Disaster Management Authority also suggested that the state government should take steps to mark the High Flood Level in all places to enable preparation of a future mitigation and preparedness plan," it said.
Gnanadesikan later thanked the central government, on behalf of the state, for providing necessary help in emergency response to face this worst ever disaster in Chennai, the spokesperson said.
NDRF said so far, its teams have evacuated more than 16,547 stranded flood victims, 30 livestock, seven bodies and distributed 27,210 food packets and 25,921 water packets in marooned areas.
"All our helplines, be it over phone, WhatsApp, Twitter or email, are 24x7 working actively and responding to the people in distress," it said.
NCMC meeting was attended by agencies and departments of Home, NDMA, Head Quarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, Power, Railways, Health, Petroleum, Air force, Food Processing, the Resident Commissioner of Tamil Nadu in Delhi along with senior TN officials through a video conferencing link.