Army out as rains pound Chennai

The Met department hit the bull’s eye Tuesday as it rained, rained and rained some more with the city receiving more than enough water to sink it. Normal life was only an abstract term as students, office-goers and even normally stay-at-home Chennaiites were affected by the deluge that washed the city, causing even more despair and inflicting water woes just as the city was recovering from the setbacks of an extremely rainy November.

Two columns of the Army's Garrison Infantry Battalion have been pressed into service in Tambaram and Oorapakkam after the Tamil Nadu government sought military assistance. The Navy is also on standby.

Those who were brave enough to take their vehicles out on the streets soon regretted their decision to override the Met’s expert opinion, as traffic chaos gripped vehicular movement right across the city.

Rainwater took over the arterial Anna Salai and the Jawaharlal Nehru 100 feet road, which connects Kathipara to Koyambedu, as motorists were spotted pulling their stalled motorcycles along.

Commuters were hit as the MTC suspended several of its services while, without power, residents were affected as they could not cook food or have easy access to essentials like drinking water.

Air traffic was severely affected with pilots and cabin crew unable to reach the airport in time for duty, while air passengers landing in Chennai had to wait an interminable time on the ground too as offloading of passengers was slow.