Day 3: City dark, dry, broke

“Without power, there was no water supply, and purchasing came to a standstill practically as swipe machines failed to function,” said SV Rajan from Mylapore.  “I had to borrow money as the three restaurants which I visited with my relatives on Tuesday refused to accept debit or credit cards due to lack of power rendering the POS machines useless.” 

SK Prasad an entrepreneur residing in Sembium said, “I am unable to run my business as I do not know when my cheques will be encashed. ATMs either do not have funds or are closed and I am unable to use my debit card to meet even basic needs.” Lack of power meant no water supply and this irked residents of CG Nagar off Suryanarayana road in Kasimedu, who blocked the streets for more than 40 minutes on December 14. 

Police said they had to intervene in such road blockades when residents from small colonies right from Kasimedu to Ennore blocked roads demanding water and power. SM Padmanaban a resident, said, “We have been using the Amma canteen to feed ourselves for the last three days. We don’t have cash and we need water and power to feed our families.” 

The residents’ tales of woe included buying drinking water cans for bathing and basic cleaning. S Madhusudhanan of Palikaranai said, “Many IT employees went to office to bathe if possible or went to work without bathing.”

Lack of power meant milk wholesalers were unable to lift normal stocks of this perishable commodity as their freezers and fridges were not running. Aavin sources said wholesale offtake came down by 70,000 litres to 2.72 lakh litres on Wednesday. The milk major supplied 7.50 lakh litres to card holders. While residents in some areas of Vyasarpadi did not receive milk on Wednesday, officials said it could be due to a ‘local problem’ as it had operated all its 132 milk routes in the city.

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam allotted Rs. 500 crores towards repair works to be taken up against the damages caused due to Cyclone Vardah in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, a release said.

After chairing a senior-level review meeting attended by senior ministers, the Chief Secretary, the government advisor, the state DGP and other senior officials to assess damage caused by the cyclone, the Chief Minister said that various government agencies would come together to rebuild the damaged infrastructure at the earliest. Of the sum, a total of Rs. 350 crore would be spent on repair works to be taken up by the TANGEDCO while Greater Chennai Corporation has been allotted Rs. 75 crore for repair of roads and other infrastructure. 

“Fishermen would be provided a sum of Rs. 10 crore to cover the damages suffered by them while the highways department will be provided Rs. 25 crore to repair damaged roads,” the release said. The state government has also allotted Rs. 7 crore for repair of government buildings and another Rs. 3 crore to contain the spread of infectious diseases as a fallout of the cyclone and the resulting waterlogging. 

Later during the day, the Chief Minister also visited the Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur to assess the damages caused to the park and wildlife in the park. He also inspected the damaged transmission towers and high tension electric cables at Mambakkam to oversee repair works taken up in these areas. Following this, he distributed relief amounts of Rs. 13,49,200 to 43 persons affected by the cyclone in Mamallapuram municipality in the form of cheques.