Chennai: A warning issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on heavy to very heavy rains, measuring up to 40 centimeters, lashing the State, including Chennai, till October 17 led to public anxiety triggering panic buying of essential articles besides people taking other precautions for the anticipated deluge with some parking their cars on elevated places like bridges, earning the ire of the traffic police.
Chief Minister M K Stalin held a review meeting with the authorities at the Secretariat on Monday and ordered the closing down of schools and colleges in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram and Chengalpattu districts on Tuesday. Private IT companies were asked to instruct their employees to work from home till October 18 as a red alert has been issued for Chennai by the Regional Meteorological Centre.
The weather forecast was that Chennai, Puducherry and almost the entire State of Tamil Nadu will witness surface winds sweeping through with speeds ranging from 40 to 60 kmph and that all coastal districts might face thunderstorms.
The Chief Minister ordered the deployments of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in flood-prone localities ahead of the heavy rains and the keeping of boats ready on Monday itself. District monitoring officers were ordered to coordinate with the local officials in carrying out relief and rescue operations.
In Chennai, MRTS and Metro Rail services should be increased to meet the needs of the people and while the food department was asked to ensure that vendors did not raise the prices of essential articles and that homes for the elderly and destitute people had adequate stock of food items with them, Aavin was instructed to maintain regular supply of milk.
Apart from these and a slew of other instructions to the authorities and government agencies, the Chief Minister urged people, particularly, farmers, fishermen, vehicle owners, those staying in hotels and wanting to travel to plan their activities diligently to face the monsoon’s wrath. Residents of multi-storied buildings and those working in industrial estates, commercial enterprises, private companies, roadside vendors and construction workers were advised to take necessary precautions.
People were told to take care of pregnant women, lactating mothers, patients and the elderly by making necessary arrangements for their safety and not to believe in rumours spread through the internet but abide by the instructions given by government officials as the low pressure area over Bay of Bengal is expected to turn into a depression and even intensify.
The authorities have been instructed to set up relief camps well in advance, allow people from low lying areas to stay there even before the rains intensify and stock bread loaves and water bottles, besides making arrangements for the health care of those staying there and for wheelchairs.
Transport authorities have been told to find alternative routes for public transport if they get disrupted due to floods and rains. Glowing stickers indicating diversion of roads and barricades should be put up on all roads where work was on.
The Chief Minister issued special instructions to the electricity board official to prevent power cuts by putting more staff on duty at all its offices and also the deployment of machinery to remove blocks in the waterways at Muttukadu, Buckingham Canal and Okkiyam passage.
Monitoring of water level in dams and the inflow to manage the storage and supply of drinking water should be ensured, he said.
