Day-time flight operations resumed at the Chennai airport after four days today. (Press Trust of India photo)
Chennai airport will return to its normal, 24-hour operations with both domestic and international flights from Monday. On Sunday, domestic flight operations and train services were resumed amid heavy rains. While more rains are predicted for the next two days, the authorities have promised a degree of normalcy in the city.
Here are the 10 latest developments in this story:
The Chennai airport will resume 24-hour domestic and international flight operations from today. Airport director Deepak Shastri said the airport is using an Air Force radar as its own radar and navigation equipment have been damaged in the flooding.
Altogether, five passenger flights, all belonging to Air India, took off from or landed at Chennai Airport till 5 pm on Sunday. An Oman Air plane stranded at the Chennai airport departed for Muscat with two crew members. Four ferry flights also took off or landed at the airport.
The railways ran 70 special trains today carrying 45,000 passengers. The Southern Railway has announced that 80 per cent trains, including long-distance, will be operational from today morning from both Chennai Central and Egmore terminals.
Power supply has been restored in several areas of Chennai. But it continued to be disconnected in places where water has not receded as a precautionary measure. Several low-lying areas are still inundated, including Mudichur and Oorappakkam.
Chennai city, which has been experiencing intermittent rains, would experience rain or thundershowers, at times heavy. The Met department said Sunday's showers were due to a twin weather system, including the formation of a new low pressure trough over Bay of Bengal along the Tamil Nadu coast.
Airdropping of relief and aerial rescue efforts have been called off with overall improvement in the situation. The focus is now on making relief material available to all and preventing outbreak of diseases.
Buses, trains and autos are back on roads in many places, aiding the city to limp back to normalcy. But anger is mounting among residents who accuse local authorities of failing to work swiftly and clear up the roads.
Several private and public sector banks operated on Sunday and a big chunk of private and public sector banks functioned to clear the backlog caused by the rains, which had paralysed ATM services. The rain holiday, however, will continue in schools and colleges till further notice.
Mobile phone and Internet services were getting restored in a phased manner in several parts of the city. Residents in many areas are still complaining of shortage of essential commodities like milk and vegetables and clean drinking water. The state government claimed 10 lakh litres of milk was supplied today against the demand for 11 lakh litres.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday said 14.32 lakh people have been rescued from flood affected areas across the state and have been housed in relief camps.
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