The Greater Chennai Corporation has opened all subways, which were hitherto closed to traffic because of floods. With this, all the major traffic bottlenecks have been cleared in various parts of the city.
Madley subway and Rangarajapuram subway were the last among the 22 to be cleared by the civic body.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi inspected major flood-affected areas to assess the damage and initiate relief work.
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A total of 561 localities were flooded in Chennai between November 25 and December 2. Until November 24, 1,128 localities had reported flooding.
From October 25 to December 1, the city has received 1,074 mm rain.
On Thursday, work on draining water was completed in 504 localities by using 918 pumps.
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Residents evacuated
Twenty four localities, including 57 streets, were flooded on Thursday after water was released from reservoirs.
With rise in water level, many residents along the banks of the Cooum in Arumbakkam were shifted to various shelters. The Corporation arranged for blankets to be given to people in all flood-affected areas on Thursday.
In Arumbakkam, residents sought more blankets from the civic officials as the number of blankets had been inadequate. “The officials distributed blankets to 150 families. More than 600 families were affected by floods. We do not even have utensils to purchase food or milk for our children. Our house is flooded,” said a resident of Radhakrishnan Nagar in Arumbakkam.
More than 16,000 residents participated in medical camps organised by the civic body on Thursday.
The regional deputy commissioners in north, central and south regions of the Corporation have started preparing ward-wise maps of stormwater drains and mark the places where inundation and pumping had been reported.
The engineers will come out with solutions to ensure that the civic issues were resolved, said an official.
Work on restoration of damaged roads resumed on Thursday.