Some 175,000 evacuated in south India floods
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-12-05 09:28

Floods after days of heavy rains have forced officials to evacuate about 175,000 people from their homes in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Around 75,000 were evacuated in the state capital Chennai and 100,000 from other parts of Tamil Nadu, the the Press Trust of India news agency said, quoting state Chief Minister Selvi Jayalalithaa

"We have opened 140 relief centers and we have been feeding about more than two lakh (200,000) people, about 3.8 lakh food packets have been distributed yesterday and about five lakh food packets have been distributed today," said Vijaya Kumar, commissioner of the Chennai Corporation municipal agency, on the NDTV news channel.

Kumar said the city was experiencing its heaviest rainfall in decades.

Although rain ceased on Sunday, the state weather department predicted thundershowers in parts of the state for the next two days, leading officials to fear the flood situation could worsen.

Low-lying outskirts of the city were flooded with water seen up to waist deep on Sunday.

The city recorded 23 centimeters (nine inches) of rainfall in the 24 hours from Friday to Saturday morning, the PTI reported.

Electricity was cut in parts of the city formerly known as Madras after water from nearby rivers and the Chembarakkam lake entered the city.

Coastal Tamil Nadu was bracing for a cyclone from the Bay of Bengal on Thursday, but the storm abated and a low-pressure area formed instead, sending torrents of rain to the state.

A consumer action group said construction on low-lying areas prone to flooding was partially to blame for the situation.

"Many of the problems could have been averted if we had been careful about the kind of construction we permitted on lake beds and on low-lying areas over the last 15 years," said Bharat Jayaraj, of the Citizen Consumer and Civil Action Group, on NDTV.

"Today what you're seeing is pretty much payback time for many of the things you shouldn't have done."