Railway track damaged due to heavy rainfall in Thoothukudi

THOOTHUKUDI: The railway track in Alwarthirunagari has been damaged due to heavy rainfall in the Thoothukudi district, and repair work is underway. Tamil Nadu is grappling with the aftermath of the cyclone and flooding.

Residents said that rainwater had not yet been drained in areas like Chinnamani Nagar and Millerpuram Housing Board, thus affecting normal life.

Thoothukudi suburbs such as P & T Colony, Raju Nagar, and Ashok Nagar are still inundated. There is a large amount of garbage piled up everywhere, the residents said.

Telangana and Puducherry Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan visited flood-affected areas of Thoothukudi and blamed the M K Stalin government in the state for "handling the situation badly".

"The State government should have taken proper precautionary measures. They have handled this situation very badly. The State government has failed to deal with the flood situation. When the people are reeling under the effects of flood, the CM is holding a program with the people," she said.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said that the rescue operation in the flood-affected southern districts of the State has been completed and the focus was now on the restoration of basic services there. However, communication lines in some districts are still affected in the aftermath of the flood.

As many as 35 deaths have been reported so far in the flooding, with Thoothukudi district accounting for 22 fatalities and 13 in Tirunelveli.

In the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Michaung, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured support for Tamil Nadu and deputed Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to assess the flood situation. In a post on X, Chief Minister MK Stalin expressed gratitude for the Prime Minister's prompt attention to the dire situation.

"Prime Minister @narendramodi called me to inquire about the unprecedented floods in Southern Tamil Nadu, immediately after #CycloneMichaung," CM Stalin said in the post.