A day after cyclone Vardah ripped through Chennai, the city on Tuesday presented a scene of devastation with thousands of uprooted trees, broken billboards, snapped telephone and power cables and inundated low-lying areas.
Eighteen people were killed in rain-related incidents during the cyclone in Tamil Nadu, PTI quotes the State government as saying.
The city came to a standstill on Monday, with suburban rail services completely suspended, airport runways shut and buses off the roads. Chennai recorded 10 centimeters rainfall since 8:30 am on Monday morning.
On Tuesday, with the rains having abated since morning, people came out on the streets and some of them queued up at roadside tea stalls. Office-goers were seen waiting at bus stops and railway stations with few services being operated.
The Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Agency (TNSDMA) tweeted that more than 1531 trees have been cleared across the city.
The Chennai Suburban and MRTS were resumed partially.
The Chennai Central to Sulurpetta/Gudur, and Chennai Central to Arakkonam /Renigunta/Katpadi lines have been fully restored for traffic, reports our correspondent Sangeetha Kandavel.
The obstructions in MRTS section have been cleared by Railway team and traffic will start after power supply from TANGEDCO is resumed. Twin Main lines between Chennai Egmore and Tambaram have been restored to move Mail/Express trains.
The people in the stranded trains have been moved with the full support of State Government Officials and Metropolitan Transport Officials.
Train No.12686 Mangalore – Chennai Central Express
Train No.16603 Mangalore – Trivandrum Express
‘Train No.22638 Mangalore – Chennai Central Express
Train No.16187 Karaikkal – Ernakulam Express
Train No.12638 Madurai – Chennai Egmore Pandian Express
Train No.16178 Tiruchchirappalli – Chennai Egmore Rockfort Express
Train No. 16184 Thanjavur – Chennai Egmore Express
Train No.16102 Rameswaram – Chennai Egmore Express
Train No.12609 Chennai Central – KSR Bengaluru Express
Train No.12712 Chennai Central – Vijayawada Pinakini Express
Train No.16053 Chennai Central – Tirupati Express
Train No.12607 Chennai Central – Bangalore Lalbagh Express
Train No.12657 Chennai Central – Bangalore Mail
Train No.22870 Chennai Central – Visakhapatnam Express
Train No.16106 Tiruchendur – Chennai Egmore Express
Train No.02651 Palani – Pollachi Passenger
Train No.02652 Pollachi – Palani Passenger
Train No.16186 Velankanni – Chennai Egmore Express
Special trains
The following specials will be run on Tuesday:
From Chennai Central to Puri at 21.10 hrs
From Chennai Egmore to Madurai at 15.30 hrs
A press release from Southern Railway says passengers affected by cancellations, changes in schedule of trains are eligible for refund of tickets.
1) If trains are cancelled, passengers can get full refund of fare from the originating station itself before the commencement of journey, up to three days.
2) Dislocation enroute: full fare for the untravelled portion after retaining the fare for the travelled portion.
Refund can be obtained by surrendering the ticket at the nearest Passenger Reservation Centre by obtaining a ticket deposit receipt (TDR) from the Station Master or Ticket Checking Staff. This receipt should be submitted to the Chief Claims Officer, Southern Railway, Moore Market Complex, V Floor, Park Town, Chennai -3 for arranging refunds.
However, tickets purchased online should be cancelled through IRCTC procedures detailed in the IRCTC website.
Following are the area-wise updates:
Heavy waterlogging was reported in many parts of OMR and Perungudi, including outside Apollo Hospitals in the area. While the MRTS is still not functioning, no buses are plying on the entire stretch between Mandaveli - Mylapore.
The Thiruvanmiyur bus depot is yet to resume operations. Only three buses - 49, 95 and 23C - are operational from the depot.
As of 10:00 a.m., all buses were diverted on the entire stretch between Royapettah and Mylapore.
Traffic is normal on this road. There maybe some disruptions due to uprooted trees, which are being cleared by Corporation personnel.
Traffic movement is normal on this arterial road.
Routes from Aminjikarai to LIC - Nelsom Manickkam Road - Sterling Road - College Road - Ethiraj Salai - Anna Salai/Chintadripet are relatively clear. Traffic is slow because of uprooted trees.
Slow traffic movement observed, mostly due to uprooted trees.
No buses were plying from the Padi bus depot. Heavy traffic reported till Kilpauk from Vilivakkam and New Avadi Road.
Services from Moore Market to Arakkonam/Sulurpettai resumed from 06:05 a.m.
Services to MRTS and Chennai Beach will resume only after power is supplied to Chindadripet and Tambaram power stations, a statement from the Souther Railway said.
The suburban and MRTS services came to a standstill on Monday owing to the flooding of tracks and the snapping of overhead lines.
Trains fully cancelled:
Train No.06028 Erode - Chennai Egmore Special Fare Special Train
Train No.06027 Chennai Egmore – Erode Special Fare Special Train
Trains diverted
Train No.15901 KSR Bengaluru – New Tinsukia Express which left KSR Bengaluru on 13/12/2016 is diverted via Renigunta Gudur and will not touch Perambur
Helpline numbers:
- Chennai Corporation Whatsapp - 94454 77207, 94454 77203, 94454 77206 , 94454 77201, 94454 77205
- Chennai Corporation Helplines - 25619206, 25619511 , 25384965 ,25383694, 25367823, 25387570
- Puducherry: 1077, 1070
- Cuddalore: 1077, 04142 220700, 231666
