Sunday, December 06, 2015

Relief mired in chaos, anger rises in Chennai...

As Chennai continued to fight back unprecedented rain and floods, the death toll climbed to 450 since the onset of monsoon in October-end in the city and neighbouring districts. With the forecast of intermittent rain, sometimes heavy, for Chennai and heavy rain in the delta districts of Tamil Nadu, Army and NDRF teams speeded up rescue and relief operations.

On day four of the latest round of rain onslaught, anger swept across the city as state departments fumbled with the key task of coordinating among central agencies and NGOs raining relief materials on the state and the virtual crumbling of Chennai's infrastructure. The unprecedented deluge and floods had exposed the city's weak links, its drainage system, poor planning and non-existent disaster management plan.

But, as the city struggled to recover from the shock of 18 critically ill patients dying at the MIOT hospital dying after a power disruption and generators failing on Thursday and Friday, there was more bad news. The bodies of a retired Army officer and his wife besides five others were pulled out from their homes in Nandambakkam close to the MIOT hospital by fire and Army rescue personnel on Friday. Officials said all the seven might have been sleeping when the gushing waters of the Adyar River nearby barrelled into their homes, trapping them. Residents say 50,000 cusecs of water was let out without any warning on Tuesday night.

 The situation in other hospitals too remained precarious due to the erratic power supply and thin attendance of medical staff. Full story...

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  3. Chennai floods a man-made disaster, say experts...
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