A group of students arrive at Delhi's Palam Airport after being evacuated from rain-hit Chennai. (Associated Press)

As the rains moderated across Chennai, availability of essential commodities such as milk and water was affected while in some places they were being sold at exorbitant prices.For the third consecutive day power, transport and telephone facilities were affected due to the rains. A one litre packet of milk was being sold for Rs 100 in some places while vegetables like tomato and beans were being sold at Rs 80 to Rs 90 per kg.As the state electricity board had suspended power as a precautionary measure, most of the residents of the city and its neighbourhoods, who had stocked on milk and vegetables were unable to preserve them for long.Large queues were seen in places where milk was being sold while the famous Koyambedu vegetable market was cut off from the city, leading to the spiralling vegetable prices.The price of mineral water also hit the roof with a 20 litre bottle normally available for Rs 30 being sold for Rs 150 per bottle.Most of the supermarkets and hotels across the city were either shut or had run out of stocks.Unprecedented heavy rains and flooding, triggered by north east monsoon and a low pressure in Bay of Bengal, during the last several days has heaped misery on several districts in Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai.Many areas in Chennai and its suburbs have submerged, bringing life to a halt.