Chennai came to a halt on Monday, with after receiving an estimated 23 to 37 centimetres of rain on a single day. Many parts of Chennai, including roads in the IT corridor, including Velachery, Tambaram, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Anna Nagar and Koyambedu were waterlogged. It hasn’t stopped raining in Tamil Nadu for the last three days with over 70 people dead. The state hasn’t had it this bad in years.

On Sunday, somebody tweeted this as a joke:

Planning to book #OlaBoat to reach office 2Maro. #chennairains #venkatweetz pic.twitter.com/PWjLLkQEd1

— Venkatesh Krishna (@venkatweetz) November 15, 2015

Ola took it really seriously! Ola now has boats ferrying people stuck in water-logged areas in Chennai.

There were trolls & jokes if @Olacabs can send boats & boy did they prove that they can. Awesome work team #Olaboat pic.twitter.com/resMQaU7Mv

— Raja Venkatapathy (@RajaVenkatpathy) November 17, 2015

Its not a joke anymore , @Olacabs have sent a boat to rescue people. #OlaBoat pic.twitter.com/Do4ai9pUNM

— Sathyan KM (@hellosathyan) November 17, 2015

Love the way @Olacabs is going that extra mile with #OLABoat to rescue people. Hats off to you guys. #ChennaiRains pic.twitter.com/yuFoh3XS2a

— Sanket B Mehta (@sanketbmehta) November 17, 2015

#ChennaiRains As cars sink following flooding, @olacabs deploy #OlaBoats in Chennai

(Pic: @SaiShyamG) pic.twitter.com/ES8vVbkwZb

— Times of India (@timesofindia) November 17, 2015

“Ola deployed boats in waterlogged and partially submerged areas on the basis of information from the Fire and Rescue department”, Ola said in a statement. The boats are operated by professional rowers and fishermen on Monday to help rescue people in Chennai’s waterlogged areas.

Happy to help in #Chennai with #OlaBoat https://t.co/HphxpDogjO

— Ola (@Olacabs) November 17, 2015

Thank you @JAnbazhagan for sharing this! Rain or shine, we’re always available for you! #OlaBoat #Chennai https://t.co/mATAWpWwYl

— Ola (@Olacabs) November 17, 2015

The boats are equipped with two rowers, sufficient umbrellas and can ferry between five to nine people in a trip. The boat service would be available for next three days and will be extended if waterlogging continues and remember one thing Ola did not have any in-app integration to carry out its rescue operations.