LIVE: Heavy rains batter Tamil Nadu, rescue efforts in full swing, NDRF to rush about 600 personnel to Chennai

# NDRF says 600 people rescued from an area in Thiruvallur, 1 body retrieved. One dead in Vellore.

# Fleet tanker INS Shakti carrying relief material to reach Chennai soon

# Following the torrential downpour that has resulted in severe flooding of Chennai and its nearby districts, Tamil Nadu government today issued an advisory to private undertakings to declare holiday for their employees on December 3 and 4.

# Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to make aerial survey of flood-hit Chennai, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts.

# Vodafone is offering pre-approved 'chota credit' of Rs.10 in wake of heavy rains in the Tamil Nadu to all pre-paid customers and a credit of 10 minutes for Vodafone to Vodafone calling.

# Chennai airport to remain shut till December 6: AAI

# Chennai has been declared disaster zone. Army has been deployed. Army Helpline is now open @ 9840295100

# All IndiGo flights operating to and from Chennai have been suspended for tomorrow (December 03).

# More than 150 people evacuated by Indian Coast Guard. 23 personnel and 2 officers in 4 boats engaged in rescue.

# NDRF says the life saving count is at 529.

# The Air Force Station & the Navy airfield too are unusable because of standing water

# I have spoken to Tamil Nadu CM, all details are being worked out and all possible help will be provided: Health Minister JP Nadda

# OP Singh, Director General of NDRF: Already dispatched 15 teams on Tuesday. They are deployed in various parts. Already rescued 400 people in the last 24 hrs. Dispatching more teams from Delhi and Bhubaneswar and Patna on Wednesday. A total of 22 NDRF teams will be there. If the need arises, we can bring more teams from Guwahati. Teams are carrying boats, divers, swimmers, life jackets. These boats are effective in urban flooding. Traffic, power and communication breakdown remain top challenges in the rescue operations.

# Home Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement in both the houses of the Parliament on Chennai Floods on Thursday.

# Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister of Puducherry Sh. Rangasamy regarding the flood situation there. MHA is closely monitoring the flood situation in southern states.

# BSNL will not charge for calls in Chennai due to heavy rains.

# The Home Minister will hold a high level meeting to look into whatever support needs to be sent to Chennai. We need to extend moral support to people in Chennai. Many people are stranded in the airport: Venkaiah Naidu

Millions of people have been stuck at various places across Chennai due to heavy rains and floods. Some people are even demanding that it should be treated as a national disaster. However, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and dismissed IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt don't seem to think in the similar. They have posted most insensitive posts on Chennai flooding on Twitter.

# 33-34 aircraft grounded at Chennai airport. 66 arrivals and 53 departures cancelled from 8 PM on Tuesday till 12:30 PM.

Water from nearby Adyar river has left the airport inundated. Passengers being evacuated. NOTAM (notice to airmen) has been issued till 6 AM on Thursday to not fly. After that the situation will be reviewed.

Boundary wall has been breached. 20 pumps have been put at the airport but until the water flow doesn't reverse the problem will not be resolved

CNS (Communication Navigation System) instruments have been shut down. Once water recedes we will inspect their workability.

Till Wednesday morning 1,500 passengers were stranded and 2500 others like groundstaff. But most of them have been now evacuated.

# We had to cancel 23 trains, 11 were diverted and 8 trains were partially cancelled due to heavy rains: Anil Saxena, Railway PRO

# Lok Sabha discusses Tamil Nadu flood, expresses full support to the state and people.

# Death toll in Tamil Nadu due to floods goes up to 197.

# Mobile and Internet services affected in Chennai.

# 11 boats including landing craft, 20 divers, disaster and medical relief bricks on INS Airavat rushed to Chennai to augment relief.

# One C 17 will fly from Chandigarh to Bhubaneswar carrying three teams of NDRF personnel. Thereafter, will leave for Tirupati.

Another C 17 will fly from Palam to Tirupati with 3 NDRF team.

Two MI 17 helicopters stationed at Tirupati.

Each NDRF team has about 40 personnel. They will go by road after reaching Tirupati.

# IndiGo statement: This is to further notify the families of passengers stranded and the local partners in Chennai - due to very heavy rains and water logging on the runway, tarmac and taxiways, all flights operating to and fro Chennai have been suspended for the day. IndiGo will update its passengers before commencing flight operations. For further flight related update, IndiGo passengers and families are requested to check flight status against their bookings via our social media channels -@IndiGo6E and facebook https://m.facebook.com/goindigo.in/ Team IndiGo (working in other cities) are volunteering to extend all support to the Chennai staff and stranded passengers. The staff (including the senior managers) is currently stationed at the Chennai airport for more than 24 hours now, to offer all the required assistance on ground, medical aid and to supply food and water to the stranded passengers. IndiGo leadership is diligently monitoring the situation and is liaising with the IMD to receive weather forecast for the next 48 hours. Company’s Emergency Response Plan has been activated to take the stock of the situation in Chennai – as it was done during the Srinagar floods and the earth quake in Nepal. This is indeed a difficult situation for stranded passengers and those away from their loved ones. IndiGo is standing by Chennai to ensure we do our bit in these tough times. IndiGo staff will continue to coordinate with the local airport staff and help passengers fly safe till further notice.

# Airports can become operational once rains stops. Chennai airport completely not operative. The review will be done on Thursday morning: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju

# Statement from Airtel: The unprecedented rains and floods in Chennai have disrupted normal life and restricted people’s movement from homes. As a small gesture, Airtel has announced the following measures to facilitate communication between Airtel customers and their loved ones:

1. Auto approval of ‘Talk Time’ credit upto Rs. 30 for all Airtel prepaid mobile customers

2. Free of cost Credit of 10 minutes of Airtel-to-Airtel calling for prepaid mobile customers with a validity of 2 days

3. Free of cost Credit of 50MB mobile data for Airtel prepaid mobile customers with a validity of 2 days

4. Airtel postpaid and fixed line customers whose bills are due to be paid immediately will get an extended time to make the payment and will experience uninterrupted services

# Army's 4th column is also deployed now. Additional columns are on stand by for emergent deployment

# I just met the Prime Minister he is concerned about the situation in Chennai. All help will be extended. The Prime Minister has offered all help. This is clear case of heavy rains. It is not a time to blame anyone: MoS Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan

# Union government must consider this calamity as a national calamity and release fund for the state: AIADMK MP TG Venkatesh Babu

# Rainfall is likely to continue for 24 to 48 hours. Rainfall likely to extend to interior Tamil Nadu and Kerala later. Coastal Tamil Nadu will get very heavy rainfall for next 24 to 48 hours. After that rains will come down to around 10 to 11 cms. South India had three heavy rain spells since November. People should take precautionary measures for safety. We have informed Tamil Nadu government: DP Yadav

# Water flooding a major hurdle. We are mobilizing citizens in rescue operations. Navy has rescued 4 fishermen in distress late night. 65 naval personnel and 4 boats with motor engines are being deployed. Two helicopters and remote operated helicopter to cover Tamil Nadu on stand by: Rear Admiral Alok Bhatnagar, Flag Officer commanding Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Naval area

# The rescue teams have till 11 AM on Wednesday succeeded in rescuing and bringing over 50 marooned civilians to safety in Gudvancheri and Mudichur. The third Army Rescue Column comprising of troops from the Garrison Battalion was effective today from 10 AM. With civil communication and mobile towers out of Communication in critical areas of Chennai, the Army is resorting to radio communication for coordinating rescue operations to reach affected people and rescue them.

The fourth Flood Relief and Rescue column is being rushed in from Madras Engineer Group and Centre, Bangalore by road. While flood rescue operations are in progress more Army columns are being brought in to augment rescue efforts.

# 2 Army Flood Relief Columns comprising of troops from the Garrison Infantry Battalion and Army's Engineer elements carrying out extensive rescue and relief operations at Tambaram Mudichur, Manipakam, Guduvancheri and Urapakkam areas in Chennai.

# Vegetable prices rise in Chennai: Tomato- Rs 80, potato - Rs 80, beans and ladies finger - Rs 160

# As soon as Chennai airport is functional, we will send additional teams from Delhi and Bhubaneshwar: NDRF

# Police and revenue officials carrying out relief and rescue operation in Chennai.

# Small boats and ropes being used to provide food packets and medicines to people in apartments. Two columns of Army have started the rescue operation in the outskirts of Chennai.

# Intermittent rain in Chennai. 3,399 mm rain recorded in Chennai. Water bodies overflowing across the city and on the outskirts which is adding to the water flooding.

# Rescue teams face problems due to bad weather condition. Most of the low lying areas washed away in the Ekkaduthangal.

# Rajya Sabha Chairperson informs the House that discussion will be on Tamil Nadu floods.