Rail, road and air travel resume on Thursday. Chennai Port too opened gates to vehicular transport, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam visited many areas in Chennai on Thursday and distributed aid, Rainwater entered postoperative wards on the ground floor of the old building in Chrompet GH
Rainwater enters Chrompet GH
Chennai: Rainwater entered Chrompet Government Hospital following continuous rain in the last two days. The hospital staff, along with PWD workers, managed to drain the water by noon on Thursday. Rainwater had entered postoperative wards on the ground floor of the old building. The building was an OP block and also had a medical store.
The hospital administration said all patients were shifted to the first floor as a precautionary measure and therefore, nobody was affected. The OP unit was also shifted to the new building. “Following continuous rain, water entered the hospital at midnight. But, we were prepared for it and acted on time,” a senior doctor said.
However, people living nearby and doctors said water entering the hospital is a perennial problem and the only solution would be razing down old building and constructing a new one to the height of GST Road. V Santhanam, a social activist in Pallavaram, said as the height of GST Road has now gone up, water enters hospital even after a mild rain. A senior doctor said a proposal has been sent to the government and new buildings will be constructed soon.
Nearly 267 trees uprooted in city
Chennai: Even as the cyclone spared the city from any severe damages, strong winds and heavy rains uprooted as many as 267 trees, which were later cleared by personnel of police, fire and rescue services and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Seven cars and three autorickshaws were damaged. Since Wednesday night the temporary control rooms in 12 police districts received over 87 distress calls. Near the Foreshore Estate, timely help by city police prevented a coconut tree from falling over a house. Meanwhile, city police commissioner, Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, and other senior police officers visited the most-affected areas.
Flood alert for areas near Arani river
Chennai: Flood warnings were issued to the people living near the banks of Arani river in Tiruvallur district on Thursday. The river stretches across 60 km in Andhra and 65 km in TN. With Chittoor district receiving heavy rainfall, more water was being released to the Tamil Nadu side. “The check dams are receiving 7,400 cusecs. There are four check dams in Arani river. After all these get filled and if there is still heavy inflow, only then water will be released,” said a PWD official. Villages near Ponneri have also been alerted. Owing to this, culverts and road crossings were not allowed for vehicular crossing from 9:30 am to 6 pm.
Man electrocuted in Triplicane
Chennai: A 38-year-old daily wage labourer was electrocuted in Triplicane on Wednesday night when he tried to draw power to his house by connecting extra cables to overhead power lines attached to a streetlight. The deceased, who was allegedly drunk, has been identified as S Albert of Pallavan Salai. Police said, “It was raining around 10 pm and power supply had been disrupted in the area. In a bid to draw power to his house, Albert climbed the roof and tried connecting extra wire to a live wire attached to a streetlight which was on. He was electrocuted when he tried to cut the live wire using a wire cutter.”