10 deaths, 7,000 in shelters, 85,000 food packets: Scale of Tamil Nadu flood rescue

Nine state ministers and two dozen senior IAS and IPS officers have been camping in the flood-affected areas. More than 300 wireless sets have been dispatched from Chennai for police personnel to coordinate relief work as many areas, including nearly the whole of Thoothukudi, faced a power and communications outage.

The Army has also played a crucial role in rescue operations, helping in the evacuation of people from flood-hit areas and in providing them with medical care. A defence official told The Indian Express that about 168 Army personnel were engaged in rescue and relief operations on Tuesday.

The Air Force has also been involved in the relief effort, bringing relief materials weighing 1.3 tonnes from the Coimbatore district administration via an IAF helicopter to the affected districts. Four helicopters from the IAF were engaged in rescue and relief efforts on Tuesday. Two helicopters from the Navy and two from the Coast Guard were also deployed.

The flood also led to 800 train passengers getting stranded at Srivaikuntam railway station in Thoothukudi district. The train they were travelling on was forced to a halt at Srivaikuntam at approximately 9.20 pm on Sunday. On Monday, around 300 passengers were moved to a nearby government school, but the remaining 500 had to stay back in the train due to an access road becoming unusable.

A pregnant woman on board the train was airlifted by an Air Force helicopter and admitted to a hospital. Military helicopters from Madurai have been dispatched with relief for the stranded passengers.

On Tuesday evening, Southern Railways officials said they were taking efforts to transport the passengers to Chennai on a special train from Vanchi Maniyachchi Junction railway station, which is about 38 kilometres from Srivaikuntam.

As many as 120 devotees were also stranded due to the floods at the Sundaramahalingam temple on Sathuragiri hills in Virudhunagar. A coordinated rescue operation by fire and rescue services, and the forest department successfully relocated the devotees to safer grounds at the foothills of Taniparai.

More than 5,000 electricity department workers have been deployed in the affected districts in an effort to restore electricity, especially to vital points such as hospitals and government offices.

Chief Minister M K Stalin is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Tuesday to discuss flood relief and rehabilitation measures. Stalin has also written to the Defence Ministry requesting additional helicopters to aid in rescue and relief efforts.

Governor R N Ravi summoned a high-level meeting at Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, with top officials from various central government departments, including the defence forces and the National Disaster Response Force, attending to strategise relief and rescue operations.

Senior IAS official Gagandeep Singh Bedi has been tasked with coordinating food distribution and rescue operations in flooded areas. Educational institutions have declared holidays in the affected districts, and the state government has postponed university exams.

Adding to the disruptions was a landslide near Bodimettu, bordering Kerala, which led to significant traffic snarls.

Reservoirs in the flood-affected region have seen major rise in water levels. The rain has also caused significant water level rise at Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala’s Idukki district, prompting first and second-stage flood alerts to be issued for residents in the Periyar valley.