NDRF rushes to Chennai to help flood-affected people

A team of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has been dispatched to Chennai to help flood-affected people in the face of heavy north-east monsoon rains lashing the city and other coastal Districts in the State.

A meeting of consultative committee headed by Electricity Minister R.B. Udhayakumar to plan the rehabilitation measures was held at the State Secretariat yesterday even as rain waters entered the Gopalapuram residence of DMK’s nonagenarian president M. Karunanidhi, Ethiraj College Women’s Hostel in Egmore and the St. Joseph College Hostel in Sholinganalloor.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Udhayakumar said relief and rehabilitation work had been going on at full-throttle at all the places which had been submerged under the floods.  “Flood water is pumped out of places where it has casued traffic jam and made life tough for the people.  As a precautionary measure, power supply has been cut off at some places,” he added.

He also said that the Arakkonam-based National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) teams had been pressed into service to help in relief and rehabilitation work.  Authorities said that 80 out of the 112 ‘SOS’ complaints received by the disaster management centre have been acted upon so far.