Thar Wades Through Flooded Chennai. Anand Mahindra Calls It "Amphibious"

Torrential rains due to Cyclone Michaung flooded Chennai on Monday, bringing the city to a grinding halt. Flights operations were suspended at the airport, train services disrupted and virtually no vehicles on were seen on the completely inundated roads.

Several videos have emerged in the last 24 hours showing the plight of Chennai - some show people walking in knee-deep water, others show parked cars getting washed away in the current.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra Group, too shared a video on X of inundated Chennai roads today, but it has a twist.

The video, shot from a rooftop, shows a road under water, devoid of any movement, and then, suddenly, a black car easily wades through. Water rises to the bonnet of the vehicle, its wheels hidden by the high water level. 

"A sighting of an amphibious creature..." Mr Mahindra posted, in a shoutout to the capabilities of the vehicle - a Mahindra Thar SUV, that happens to be made by the firm he owns. The new Thar, a body-on frame 4x4 SUV, has a water wading capacity of 650 mm, which lets it cross submerged roads without the danger of water entering the engine.

The video on X has been viewed over 7 lakh times.

Rain has stopped in Chennai, but most parts of the city still remain submerged, with heavy inundation in low-lying areas. The weather office said that Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are expected to experience light to moderate rainfall in most places today.

Cyclone Michaung made landfall near Bapatla on Andhra Pradesh coast this afternoon.