Chennai, Dec 4: A relatively dry spell in Chennai and its neighborhood brought relief to the flood affected residents and rescue agencies as hopes of water fast receding went up.
Mobile phone services, which had taken a severe beating following the heavy downpour on Tuesday, were partially restored even as other services such as ATMs continued to remain shut.
After a day-long dry spell yesterday, some areas in and around the city including Kodambakkam, T Nagar and Tambaram received showers in the night but Friday morning saw some bright skies with people out on the streets.
The break in rains resulted in a sharp fall in the discharge of waters from Chembarapakkam, Pondi and Puzhal lakes leading to reduction in the water levels of the two rivers that criss-cross the city.
Though the water was receding in many parts of the city the misery of citizens showed little let up as power remained suspended in many areas as a precautionary measure, officials said.
Safe drinking water continued to remain a luxury for many.
Milk and newspaper supplies were erratic and many citizens complained that vegetables were still being sold at high rates while transport services were also showing signs of picking up.
Limited commercial flight operations have started this morning from the Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam near Chennai.
Train services on the suburban Chennai Arakonnam stretch were partially restored. Southern Railway officials said they were yet to take a call on restoration of services on the other busy Tambaram-Chennai beach route which covers both business and residential areas.
The Chennai Metro line continued to witness enhanced patronage in the wake of suspension of bus and rail transport.
With a focus on intensifying relief and rescue operations to provide aid to rain-hit people of Chennai and adjoining areas, the NDRF has bolstered its strength by adding ten more teams for the job and has rescued 9,000 people till now.
Director General of the force, O P Singh, said his teams are expected to rescue and reach out to more number of people today as water has receded in some places.
“We have rescued about 9,000 people till now. Ten more teams from Pune and Patna have been mobilised to Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, heavy rains pounded Puducherry, putting a brake on rescue and relief work in the Union Territory that has been lashed by torrential rain during the last one month.
The Union Territory recorded 8.4 cm rainfall during the last 24 hours ending 8.30 AM
Even as the official machinery was going ahead with the task of evacuating rain-hit people from low lying areas, the fresh rains posed a hurdle for them.
Some of the marooned people living in low-lying areas were moving to relatively safer places.
Large areas have been inundated and over 400 houses damaged due to torrential rains, forcing evacuation of thousands of people.
As many as 173 relief centres are operating in Puducherry and Karaikal region and more than 10,000 people have been so far evacuated to safer places.
