chennai peoples shutdown due to flood

Residents of the southern Indian city of Chennai
battled yet another day of torrential rain and flooding on Dec. 2, facing the worst monsoon that the metropolitan area has seen in 100 years.

Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, recorded over 294 millimeters of rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). That means the rains in Chennai this year have been more than double the average rainfall in previous monsoons, as the Wall Street Journal noted.

The financial loss due to the rain and flooding is estimated to exceed Rs15,000 crore ($2.25 billion). Business for several IT companies with local offices in the area—like Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant, IBM, and Infosys—are likely to take a hit as some of them have faced flooding at their premises and have asked their employees to operate from home, which may not be an option as power supply in several parts of the city has been stopped.

Automobile manufacturers like Ford, Daimler, and Nissan, which have facilities in and around Chennai, are also likely to be impacted. “Everyone is at home. Yesterday, workers were sent home after a half day, and today (Dec. 2) we are shut. Tomorrow too, probably,” an official at Daimler India told Reuters.

The
monsoon season began in Tamil Nadu on Oct. 1, and it has not stopped raining in the state since then. Rain-related incidents have caused 188 deaths in the state since October, IBNLive has reported.

In Chennai, the drainage system has failed to cope with the higher-than-anticipated rain, leaving many parts of the city under water. In the recent weeks, Chennai has seen cars sink, roads cave, and flights cancelled. On Dec. 2, flooding on the runways caused the city’s international airport to shut down.

Here are some images that depict the on-ground situation in Chennai over the last 24 hours:

For the last 15 days, boats have replaced cars in on many streets in Chennai. Earlier this month, Ola, a local taxi aggregator and a competitor of Uber, launched a free boat service in Chennai to assist those stuck in the floods.

Another Indian startup, Zomato, has launched an option to donate meals to affected residents of Chennai through its food-ordering mobile application. A meal for two on Zomato comes at Rs100 and is being delivered with the help of local non-governmental organizations.