Ramu was busy as a bee at the IIT-Madras campus on Tuesday. Wearing a white khadi shirt, Ramu, who has been present on the campus for 34 years and operates a tea stall within it, rode his Honda Activa to all part of the campus. “Where are the labourers?” he kept asking as people helped themselves to glasses of tea from a dispenser on the floor of the vehicle. He seeks out to individuals helping remove trees and debris from the institutes roads. Regardless of who you were, Ramu’s biscuits and ginger tea were free on Tuesday.
As for the trees themselves, they were removed almost as effectively. Campuses spread over large areas moved swiftly to remove the most difficult hurdles for students.
Apart from the IIT, Anna University had, by Tuesday evening, made sure all its main roads had been cleared of uprooted trees.
“We have cleared all the trees and all roads are open to traffic. Electricity was restored partially - especially to the residential areas - but it has tripped again. We are working to resolve that,” said IIT-M's Dean of Planning David Koilpillai.
Quaid-E-Millath College for Women on Tuesday declared that it would remain closed till December 18. Though roughly 20 trees have been uprooted on the property, no buildings have been damaged. Multiple trees were uprooted within Queen Mary's College - the entrance to the college itself was blocked by a tree - but a staff member denied this newspaper access to the campus.
Ethiraj College for Women were among those worst-hit by trees: a tree fell on one of its gates while another was partly blocking access to the main gate itself. The college's compound wall has been damaged in two places by falling trees. A section of Loyola College's perimeter wall was damaged by an uprooted tree.
Inside the sylvan campus of Madras Christian College in East Tambaram too, several trees have been uprooted. The college administration has engaged additional workers to clear garden waste from its sprawling complex. At Nanmangalam Reserve Forest, more than 50 trees including some aged ones have been uprooted, officials said.
Trees on Naval base uprooted
With Arakkonam bearing the brunt of Cyclone Vardah in Vellore district, several trees on the campuses of defence and paramilitary establishments in Arakkonam and Thakkolam were uprooted.
Naval base INS Rajali situated at Arakkonam lost several trees, while the joint campus of Regional Training Centre of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and 04 battalion of National Disaster Response Force also lost plenty of green cover to strong winds.
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