CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation has established 215 relief camps and 106 community kitchens across the city to assist residents affected by the continuous rainfall triggered by the northeast monsoon.

Of these, 68 kitchens are currently operational, providing food to those sheltered in the camps. On Wednesday morning, breakfast was served to 1,46,950 people, according to Corporation officials.

The measures follow Chief Minister MK Stalin’s directive to all District Collectors to take immediate precautionary steps to prevent public hardship amid widespread rainfall across Tamil Nadu. On October 19, he reviewed the State’s monsoon preparedness through a video conference with District Collectors from the State Emergency Operations Centre at Ezhilagam in Chennai.

The Chief Minister instructed officials to expedite relief operations, relocate residents from low-lying and coastal areas to safer locations, and ensure the provision of adequate food, drinking water, and medical facilities at the relief camps. He also urged Corporation officials to focus on flood-prone areas in Chennai and strengthen on-ground preparedness.

A 24-hour Integrated Command and Control Centre, receiving and operating to receive public complaints via hotline to 1913, ensuring immediate response and coordination. Around 22,000 personnel, including engineers, staff, and conservancy workers from the Corporation, along with 2,149 field staff from the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, have been deployed across the city to manage relief and maintenance operations.