Cyclone Fengal: 134 places reported water logging, says Chennai Corporation

CHENNAI: As many as 134 locations in the city have witnessed water logging as the intense monsoon spells continue to drench the capital Chennai from Friday night.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has intensified pumping out stagnated water on the road, among these water has been cleared in 8 places in the city.

The civic body has stated that efforts to quickly remove rainwater are being carried out with 1600 machines on a war-time basis in the remaining 126 places in the city.

On Saturday, as on 9 am, as many as nine trees had fallen due to the heavy rain and strong wind in the city.

Of these, five trees were immediately removed, and the work is ongoing to remove the remaining trees.

At least 9 hydraulic cutting machines and 2 hydraulic cranes are being used to remove fallen trees.

Additionally, there are 262 tree-cutting machines and 216 telescopic tree-cutting machines, bringing the total number of machines in operation to 489.

The Chennai corporation has set up relief centers in 329 locations, that are equipped with food, drinking water, and medicines.

During the northeast monsoon, from October 15 to November 30, as many as 47,863 complaints have been received through the helpline number 1913 from the public regarding water logging, tree fallen.

The local body has addressed 39,619 complaints so far, and the steps has been taken to resolve 8,254 grievances.

To rescue the people in low-lying areas and shelter them in relief centers, 103 boats are on standby.

Among these, 36 boats have been purchased by the Chennai corporation and are ready for use.

In anticipation of the monsoon spell, at least 22,000 people, including officials, engineers, workers, and sanitation staff, are involved in flood and rain relief activities in GCC.

In addition, 18,500 volunteers have registered to participate in flood relief operations.

Meanwhile, the Chennai Water Supply and Sewerage Board has set up a monitoring and control center that operates round the clock in all 15 zones along with GCC to address the complaints related to water supply and sewage removal.

The public are advised to contact 044-45674567 and toll free number 1916 for complaints regarding water supply and sewage.

Additionally, a total of 642 sewage removal machines are in use to remove the stagnated sewage on the road, including 299 suction machines, 73 high-speed sewage suction vehicles, 225 jet-rodding vehicles, and 45 sewage trucks brought in from other districts.

As many as 2,149 field workers are carrying out water supply and sewage removal works across the city.