500 Passengers Stuck As Tamil Nadu Station Flooded Amid Heavy Rain, Tracks Damaged

Around 500 passengers on Monday were stuck at the Srivaikuntam railway station in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu after heavy rain battered the southern parts of the state.

The station is surrounded by water on all sides and the trains can’t move as the tracks are damaged.

Due to soil erosion, the ballast over which railway tracks were fixed was washed away in Srivaikuntam and iron tracks with only supporting cement slabs were seen dangling precariously.

The rescue work has been suspended as the road to the station has been cut off. The train was going from Thiruchendur to Chennai.

“The passengers are safe. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is trying to reach the station. Efforts are underway to airdrop food,” Guhanesan, Chief PRO, Southern Railways, told NDTV.

Though there is respite from rain in some areas, release of surplus water from dams continued, which led to water-logging.

Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his appointment on December 19 to discuss rain and the flood situation in southern parts of the state.

Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi and Tirunelveli are the four southern districts hit by the very heavy rainfall.

Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin received 95 cm rain in 24 hours.

With River Thamaraparani running in spate with release of waters from Papanasam dam, waters have entered homes in several low lying pockets of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli.

More than 7,000 people have been evacuated in these four districts.