India army on war footing to rescue survivors as flood toll nears 270

By Sanjeev Miglani Krishna Kumar and Devika.

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - Indian soldiers evacuated more than 2,000 residents stranded in the southern state of Tamil Nadu on Thursday as the death toll flood rose to 269 after a rain storm that hard. in the past century

The forecast more rain in the next 48 hours, forcing the army to work on a war footing to rescue survivors trapped in the flooded Chennai, India's fourth most populous city.

Chennai saw a little rain on Thursday. The water level is not reduced since Wednesday morning, when the release of water from the reservoir filled swamped low-lying areas of the city.

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has blamed climate change for floods travel to Chennai, will get a first-hand view of the rescue efforts that have so far been reluctant.

"Chennai has become a small island. This is unprecedented," Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament. "The quick help and relieve the need of the hour. We are working hard to restore normal. ".

After the car manufacturers and IT outsourcing company suspended operations on Wednesday, state-run Chennai Petroleum refinery shut 210,000 barrels per day due to heavy flooding. Rain earlier this week dropped as much as 345 millimeters (14 inches) of rain over 24 hours.

"We are in the city expect that we will have access to basic amenities. But today we have no food and drinking water to control our lives "Sudha Murthy Raman mother of two teenage daughters said.

Soldiers set up 25 temporary shelters and community kitchens and installed portable toilets. "We have to revive the town" Abhijit Shaw, who was an officer who had been set up temporarily in the maternity ward of a government building, said.

Flooding cut off more than three million people by providing basic services and hamper rescue efforts by the army have so far evacuated 18,000 people from the roof and remote villages.

City officials were fined bags of concrete and bulldozers to repair roads, collapsed while several bridges were under water as the lake in the town of low-lying coastal city of six million surplus.

Night train services and flights, the capital of Tamil Nadu were washed away and navy boats have been pressed into service to evacuate people from the suburbs, the worst to hit the temples, schools and halls. Wedding

Senior officials of the federal government says more than 1,000 people were injured and were rushed to a government hospital by military forces.

Additional rainfall of 100-200 mm (8/4 inch) is predicted from Thursday to Sunday, made the situation critical for several days.

The government pledged $ 141 million in immediate relief and launch a survey to assess the loss of life and property industry lobby ASSOCHAM estimated that the flooding could cause a financial loss of more than $ 2.25 billion.

Experts say the haphazard construction of drainage false and made up of waste have contributed to the disaster.

"Chennai is a foul and it is shocking to see that it has collapsed in the last 48 hours," Anand Raghav, 56, a professor at the University of Madras, said.

More than 5,000 houses are under water, many people are still trapped on rooftops, while others crowded in relief camps.

About 30 families who have been sleeping rough under a bridge in central Chennai for a week after concrete huts and small houses of them were washed away.

Seema Agarwal from the central district of Alwarpet, said she has seen a lot of people angry queuing at bus out of town.

"There are people who have not eaten for days," she said, "They have seen their property float away from home, food, clothing -. Gone.".

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru Mayank Bhardwaj, Manoj Kumar Aditi Shah Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, written by Rupam Jain Nair,; Edited by Douglas Busvine and Nick Macfie).