A day after cyclone Vardah left in its wake a trail of damage, volunteers and residents came together on Tuesday to pick up the pieces and restore normality in the city.
While many volunteer groups as well as NGOs worked in specific areas, they were also seen offering assistance to the police and fire services personnel who were engaged in clearing trees that had fallen on the road.
“We have split ourselves into groups of 50 across three zones and are helping officials from the Corporation. While they have power saws to cut through the larger branches, we’re helping them clear branches after that so that the roads can be made accessible to traffic,” said Abdul Raheem, State Secretary of the Thowheeth Jamath. He, along with a few other volunteers, were engaged in assisting the Corporation workers to clear Radhakrishnan Road near Semmozhi Poonga.
Photos and videos of volunteers engaged in helping clear the roads were shared on social media and many spoke about the way the city had got back on its feet, making comparisons to the 2015 December floods. Many social media users also urged people to distribute water and food to the officials and volunteers working on clearing the roads in their areas.
Even as IT companies and other organisations resumed work on Tuesday, a commuter on Old Mahabalipuram Road said that many volunteers along with officials from the Corporation had begun clearing the roads from early in the morning to ensure that traffic kept moving.
“The impact of the cyclone on the city brought a different set of challenges and hurdles for us compared to last year. But many of us were able to work in coordination and helped clear streets near K.B. Dasan Road and T.T.K Road,” said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, speaking about the work done by Agni Foundation. The group had put up helpline numbers for people to reach out to volunteers and for other assistance and were operating from Monday.
Residents at areas including Guindy, Alwarpet and T.Nagar came together and assisted officials in clearing up streets as well.
