Flights to Chennai from UAE suspended
Airlines offer to fly booked passengers to other Indian cities
All flights from the UAE to Chennai were yesterday suspended indefinitely after torrential rain forced the closure of the airport in the southern Indian city where hundreds have died and thousands have become homeless.
Days of incessant downpour – 47 cm in 24 hours —have turned the city into an island and damaged railway and road networks and the city’s airport is flooded. The meteorological department has blamed an “exceptionally strong El Nino” and other factors for the rain.
Emirates said on its website it is suspending flights to Chennai “until further notice”. Etihad Airways said it has cancelled its three daily flights from December 2 to December 7. The airline is offering to take Chennai passengers to other destinations in India.
Similarly, flydubai has suspended services until further notice and is offering to fly booked passengers to an alternative Indian city of their choice on the airline’s network.
Unprecedented, shocking, a man-made disaster that was waiting to happen. These are some of the ways UAE expatriates from Chennai have described the torrential rains that have deluged their beloved city, bringing life to a stand still.
Many have been frantically calling their loved ones to be reassured of their safety. Malavika Vardhan, a radio jockey at a Dubai-based radio station literally flew into the eye of the storm hoping to celebrate her week long National Day leave by meeting her 94year old grandmother in the Tiruvamayur locality.
“I took the Abu Dhabi-Chennai flight on December 1 but the flight that was to land at 8.20 am kept circling the Meenambakkam airport for a couple of hours until it was diverted to Bengaluru airport and we landed there four hours behind schedule at 12.20pm. I decided to spend the holidays with my parents who are in Bengaluru after making sure my grandmother, who is living with my aunt, was moved to a safe place,” she told Gulf News by phone from Bengaluru.
The Dubai resident was relieved to know that her uncles who lived in Anna Nagar are safe.
“I was able to talk to them and although they are unable to move out they are safe.” Chennai, which usually has winter rains, has not had such a deluge over the last 100 years, expatriates say.
“Rains happen around Diwali but something on this scale has never taken place,” said Lalita Krishnamurthy, another expatriate.
Shankari Subramanian, another Dubai resident who has two brothers living in Chennai, was relieved to know that both were safe but said the daughter-in-law of one her brothers is due to deliver any moment.
“The phone lines are down and after trying to get in touch with them for two hours, I was finally able to talk to them briefly. I am worried for the daughter-in-law who is having her first baby. She is registered at the Kilpauck Hospital, which is several kilometres away and insists on going to that gynaecologist. Right now there is so much water that taking her to that distant hospital seems impossible. I am constantly seeking to update news on her condition.”
Lakshmy Ramachandran, a popular actor and filmmaker from Tamil and Malayalam cinema who has been shooting in Dubai for the past fortnight, shared her fears over the safety of her sister’s family in Nadambakkam, an area which is badly affected.
“Chennai has been my family home for the last nine years. I have been in Dubai shooting for a Malayalam movie since November 18 and was scheduled to fly out to Chennai on December 2,” she said.
“My husband and daughter are safe as we live in Porur area where the storm water drains were cleaned out and there has been no water logging. My husband told me they had generators, back-up power supply and enough food to last out for another day. But I really feared for my sister’s family as I could not establish contact with her at all in the last two days. “I have not been able to speak to her but just learnt from other contacts that they have been shifted to the military hospital in Defence Colony and heaved a sigh of relief.”
Ramachandran feels right now is not the time for the blame game and people need to act responsibly. “Clearly in places where the drainage was working or storm water drains were serviced were clear of flooding. This is a man-made disaster and the people as well as the authorities are to be blamed. We need to understand that we cannot abuse the resources and expect nature not to react with its fury.”
Vijay Kavaserri, another Dubai resident had two cousins living in Adiyar and Kottupuram areas respectively. “Kottupuram is waterlogged but my cousins are safe. It was really difficult to establish contact with them as four out of the six phone networks are down.”
Meanwhile, individuals were helping with food and medicine supplies and offering their cars to transport others. A facebook page has been created to check on the safety status of Chennai residents.