Life returned to normal for people in Mamallapuram and surrounding villages on Thursday, a day after cyclone Nilam made a landfall in the vicinity of this ancient temple town.
At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, power supply to all coastal districts was switched off. While the supply resumed in Mamallapuram a little after noon on Thursday, the smaller villages remained without power till late in the evening.
Along East Coast Road, nearly 20 trees had fallen and the Police Department, along with the fire service, worked through the night to clear the way. There was no major traffic disruption along ECR even during the cyclone, Superintendent of Police of the Kanchipuram District S. Manoharan said.
A total of 3,888 people had been evacuated from their homes before the cyclone and moved to rescue shelters. The majority of them were from Oyyali Kuppam and Pudupattinakuppam villages. Since morning, they had all returned to their homes.
There was no major damage to any of the houses, Mr. Manoharan said.
In Mamallapuram, around 20 trees were uprooted in the rain. They were cleared by Thursday morning.
In the villages surrounding Mamallapuram along Old Mahabalipuram Road, the winds were much stronger and several trees were uprooted. The villagers themselves toiled to remove the trees. Power supply had not been restored to these villages till Thursday night, the official said.
The winds snapped several telephone lines in Mamallapuram and surrounding areas. BSNL officials said they would restore all the lines by Thursday evening.
There was not much disruption to tourism in Mamallapuram village. Though some people chose to leave because of the cyclone, a majority of the tourists on long-term stay chose to stay back.
According to several restaurant and hotel owners, the crowds they received both on Wednesday and Thursday were about normal for a weekday. On Thursday, after power supply resumed, activities picked up with several tourists from Chennai visiting the town.
The shore temple and other important monuments in Mamallapuram remained unharmed. Most of the resorts, even those along the beach suffered no major damage, although the thatched roofs on some of the restaurants on the beach front were blown away.
According to Vladimir and Anne from Russia, the winds were a bit terrifying, but by about 9 p.m. they went on a stroll from their resort.
Jasmine from Israel said lack of electricity was common in the town, but it was a bit uncomfortable not to have power for over 24 hours.
