Chennai, Oct 21 (IANS) Tamil Nadu has placed around 8,200 fire and rescue personnel on alert as the northeast monsoon intensifies, deploying specialist teams in vulnerable areas and mobilising boats, emergency equipment and volunteers to respond to flooding.
The Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services Department has directed its 375 fire stations and three rescue stations at Hogenakkal, Kotagiri and Chennai’s Marina Beach to remain operational round the clock.
National and State Disaster Response Force teams have also been deployed in areas facing heavy rainfall. Police and fire personnel are monitoring approximately 4,400 locations identified by the State Disaster Management Authority as vulnerable to flooding.
The fire department is separately maintaining surveillance over 1,343 low-lying locations across Tamil Nadu.
Rescue teams have been positioned at 125 locations where previous floods caused significant casualties and property damage.
Each deployment comprises 20 personnel equipped with rescue vehicles, rubber boats, drones and life jackets.
District-level preparations include two commando teams, trained rescue swimmers and personnel specialising in rope operations. Equipment kept ready includes motorboats, rubber boats, power saws for removing fallen trees, pumps for draining floodwater, ropes and life jackets.
Advanced devices, including rope launchers, rope riders and motion-imaging cameras, are available to help locate and rescue people trapped amid debris. Walkie-talkies have been readied to maintain communication if regular networks are disrupted, officials said.
In Chennai and the surrounding areas, authorities are monitoring 203 flood-prone locations. Rescue teams have been stationed at 15 vulnerable points, including Kilpauk, Anna Nagar, Retteri Junction, Sembium, Mint, Basin Bridge, Velachery Ram Nagar, Perumbakkam, Mudichur, Tambaram, Kundrathur, Avadi, Manali, Red Hills and Nandambakkam.
Around 200 additional fire personnel have been brought to Chennai from areas receiving comparatively less northeast monsoon rainfall, reflecting the city’s extensive low-lying neighbourhoods and anticipated rescue requirements.
Leave has been restricted until the monsoon ends, with exceptions permitted only for urgent needs. The department has also mobilised 1,000 volunteers, including experienced divers and fishermen, across 13 districts that frequently suffer flooding: Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. These volunteers will work alongside fire personnel during emergencies.
A further group of around 200 volunteers has also been readied to assist rescue operations. The arrangements are intended to speed up evacuations, reach stranded residents and clear obstructions as heavy rainfall increases the threat of inundation.
–IANS
aal/dpb
