Chennai, Dec 04 (ANI): Residents clutching babies and food thronged flooded streets in Chennai on Friday, braving chest-deep water to reach high ground or heading the other way to rescue relatives still stranded days after incessant rains drowned the city.
Waters receded in some areas thanks to a lull in the heaviest rains in a century that have killed at least 280 people. But another cloud burst was forecast within hours and officials said brimming waterways were the main concern in the low-lying coastal capital of Tamil Nadu.
Rescue teams urged people to leave inundated regions. Only roofs in some villages remained visible. Where water had receded, masses of black mud and garbage piled up. Military helicopters dropped food to residents stranded on rooftops in India’s fourth-largest city, previously known as Madras.
On Friday, the defence ministry doubled to 4,000 the number of soldiers deployed to help the rescue effort. Despite combined rescue efforts by the military and civilian emergency services, help had yet to reach many areas and city-dwellers were growing impatient. Police and government officials said they were investigating the deaths of 14 patients on life-support after a power failure in the intensive care unit of MIOT International, a private hospital.
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