[WindRide]

He he.
And to think this is a water starved city for 11 months a year! What a sad man-made tragedy.
Delhi is preparing to send truck loads of cash to Chennai to help the 'needy', 75% of which will ofcourse 'vanish' to be used during next elections.
Instead of sending cash, its a legal notice that must be sent - http://www.rediff.com/news/interview...s/20151125.htm

[n.arun01]

Pardon my Ignorance, but what sort of check ups does the car need after this rains stop. The car is taking a real battering with water logged roads, huge craters, slush etc.
Is a general service enough or any specific checks need to be carried out ?

[Dieseldunk]

You definitely need to get the underchasis checked. Brake and clutch checked. Wheel alignment and balacing done. Most important never drive in a pool of watwr if u are not sure of the depth.

[vennarbank]

Any updates on the traffic from Sholiganallur till Porur? Thinking of going to office, But with continous rain and if traffic Jam is present, i will WFH.

[raghu.t.k]

Heavy water logging between sholinganallur and Bollineni turning. I took the ECR, hence not aware of the rest of the route. While it rains, there is water logging in the city as well.

Today took Ponamallee highroad - harrington road - college road - pattullas road - ttk road - RA puram - thiruvanmayur - ECR - Sholinganallur - Navalur. From College road onwards there is occasional water logging. Patullas road is really bad.

[drivingme.crazy]

Originally Posted by vennarbank

Any updates on the traffic from Sholiganallur till Porur? Thinking of going to office, But with continous rain and if traffic Jam is present, i will WFH.

Some useful links for Chennai folks;

City updates: http://www.livechennai.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=22959

Helpline: http://livechennai.com/detailnews.asp?newsid=22958

Google Map for water logged areas, blocked roads: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...s.kTPQMiDIB2EU

[WindRide]

@Madras, the city i LOVE - This too shall pass; just come back roaring, SUPER KINGS!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/regajha/namma-chennai

[Masda]

Originally Posted by WindRide

@Madras, the city i LOVE - This too shall pass..

Hoping for things to get back to normal ASAP. My thoughts and prayers with everyone in Chennai who is affected. Take care guys!

[Gansan]

My wife and I left our respective offices at Guindy at 3.45 PM yesterday, reached home at 9.45 PM - for a distance of about 13 KM. Wasted half an hour at Guindy to try and catch a bus, as a friend from my neighborhood said buses are plying to Chromepet and beyond. No luck. No cabs were to be seen in Ola / Uber apps, but Ola autos were visible. Tried to hail one, but they baulked when they knew the destination and backed off.

Finally took a train to Pallavaram. The train got stuck just beyond the airport for an hour, then finally reached the station. Saw a Chengalpet fast train waiting on Platform 3, enquired and found it will stop at all stations, and boarded. But it did not start even after 45 minutes, so came out of the station and tried to hail an auto. Even offered money to a vegetable shop owner when I saw a his Tata Ace truck. But he regretfully said the driver had left for the day.

Finally started walking along the tracks towards Chromepet. Took about half an hour to reach Vaishnav college gate ( Saravana Stores) and exited towards GST Road, hoping to hail a cab or auto. Mainly to avoid the knee deep flooding opposite Vetri theatre. Wasted 15 minutes, no luck again. So started walking again, sticking to the centre median, with vehicles driving slowly around us. Finally reached Chromepet station, caught a Hastinapuram bound mini bus for the last 1 KM and reached home.

Ola and Uber are all fine, but remember,they are fair weather friends. In foul weather, when the chips are down, it is always the good old Southern Railway and the MTC that we you depend on. They will run their services till it is physically impossible to do so. So don't bad mouth them, even if you are not using them regularly!

[VW2010]

@Ganesan

I cant believe you had to work today. I am not sure anyone bad mouth SR. In fact i still think the VLR canteen coffee is the best in the world even though its given in syringe volume. Waiting to reach chennai to just take my kid in the train all around the places.

To be honest, the rains started just the day before diwali and in reality its a one month rain. Except chirapunji and probably some places in Kerala i am not sure any city is prepared for this.

When you see saidapet bridge over flowing we know this is not a normal scenario and even those auto wallas trying to get you out or to anyplace should be praised at this point.

In face i feel a bit upset i cant help physically but still trying to work with friends to atleast pass on the message.

Over 50% of city is under a feet of water. The situation is actually dire and i wish the offices have some common sense to shut shop and let people get back to normal for a week.

I just got a call that people are stranded in Jafferkhanpet in terrace in the middle of the night hoping they will see a boat to get them out.

If anyone knows such service or someone who can go to Jafferkhanpet do share.

[m8002?]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Ola and Uber are all fine, but remember,they are fair weather friends. In foul weather, when the chips are down, it is always the good old Southern Railway and the MTC that we you depend on. They will run their services till it is physically impossible to do so. So don't bad mouth them, even if you are not using them regularly!

While I can understand your ordeal in the rains, I dont think your comment on Ola and Uber is right. How do you expect them to run the cars on roads that have 3-4 feet of water? And if their cars can run, you could have very well taken your car out. Looking at it another way, if you were running a taxi business, would you be lending out your cars in this weather risking road blocks and water logging?

I am not connected to Uber/Ola in anyway. But these are extreme one off situations and dont think anybody will be prepared for it.

I am really surprised your office wanted you to come to work in this scenario.

[dark.knight]

Sad state of affairs in the city, I don't think such a scale of waterlogging has happened in any major city in India for this long, and that is including Mumbai. There could be 2 reasons for this, the primary one being the severity of rains, of course. The second reason could be the poor preparedness for such a weather, I don't think Chennai ever had major monsoons and thus the drainage systems were only made to accommodate the dozen or so showers over the course of the year.

This can happen to any city or town in India if the rains last this long, I personally think the major culprits are the roads/cemented regions which prevent the water from being absorbed quickly and cleanly. Bare earth can drink up the water like a sponge and distribute it into the lower realms evenly thus preventing any form of flooding. Its about time all cities wake up to this unstable weather conditions and start preparing, there should be new road laying techniques using porous compounds and/or creating a major drain over just about every road covered by a manhole (like New York). Bad weather and unpredictable rain lashings are here to stay.. its the people who have to adapt & fast.

[VW2010]

@Sjcherian,

The city needs your Thar more than anything. Please do let me know if you are available in case someone needs help with wading some water for rescue

[Gansan]

@VW2010 & m8002

What I had posted was about Tuesday evening, not Wednesday. There was rain, but no "situation" when we left for work. It kind of sneaked up on us during the afternoon and all offices closed by 3.30 PM.

Ola & co cabs vanish at the drop of a hat or try to fleece you through surge rates if they don't. There is not much dependability, which is what I meant. And not just during extreme situations either.

[saadat1992]

8 cars got submerged in my street with water level rising up to the bonnet ! Even a brand new duster was a victim in my street :/

Guys,any bunk that has diesel stock that you people know of?I have only 8-10lts left and will need more!