It was a busy Sunday and Monday for policemen as they rescued an elderly couple trapped inside their house, removed fallen trees and burnt the midnight oil to attend to emergencies in their respective jurisdiction.
The Police control room received an emergency call from an elderly couple who were stranded in their house on the ground floor of a two-storey building on Raman Street in T.Nagar. Immediately, Assistant Commissioner of Police Bharathiraja deputed a team led by Sub-Inspector Prabakaran to the spot. The team reached the street that was heavily flooded. Since the vehicle could not reach the couple’s house, policemen walked in knee-deep water and reached the spot. The couple — identified as Murthy, 81, a retired sound engineer, and Syamala, 70, — were stranded since the flood water entered their house. Their children were staying abroad. The couple took shelter on the first floor after the water level began rising
“They were seated on a plastic chair, and we carried them out one by one to our vehicle on the road and safely took them to their relative’s house in K.K.Nagar,” Mr. Prabakaran said.
Similarly, on receipt of information of a two-year-old child who had taken ill at an apartment, policemen from Vepery brought the child and his father out despite waterlogging and helped them reach a hospital. An 80-year-old man who was struggling with breathing difficulties was rescued by Vepery Inspector Kannan and rushed to a hospital for treatment.
In Abiramapuram, a huge tree near an apartment was slowly getting uprooted. As the matter was reported to E4 Police Station, a team of police personnel immediately rushed to the spot with a tree cutting team from Chennai Corporation and cleared the road for traffic after removing the branches.
Police said on the orders of City Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal, 13 ‘Greater Chennai Police Disaster Rescue’ teams have been constituted to protect the public from rain-related mishaps, meet emergencies and extend assistance to the marooned people. The team consists of a Sub-Inspector and Armed Police constables who are trained swimmers.
In several pockets, police personnel were seen wading through the water with a public address system asking the public if they need any assistance.
