CHENNAI: Most of the city recorded less than 10 cm of rain in the 12 hours from midnight to noon on Oct 15, yet water entered homes or flooded streets in several neighbourhoods. What's worrying is it could rain twice as much on Tuesday. Some of the flooding was because work on the Chennai metro had blocked drains.
In several places, interior roads were flooded as water from main thoroughfares flowed into them. In other places, stormwater drains with poor gradients didn't do their job.
"If rain exceeds 20 cm, Buckingham Canal will overflow to flood south Chennai," said S Janakarajan, former member of the Thiruppugazh Flood Mitigation Committee. So far some of the worst affected areas last December such as Pallikaranai and Perumbakkam saw little flooding on Tuesday evening. But that's also because it hasn't rained heavily in these areas.
Through the day, civic authorities were kept busy attending to calls to pump out water from interior residential areas. And there were complaints that pumps were not available when required. Mahendran Natarajan of Kamaraj Nagar said GCC spent ₹25 lakh to set up a pumping station for 1st, 2nd and 3rd East Avenue. "Drains and pumps are now submerged in water. We are now vacating our house. We believed drains and motors will work but they let us down," he said.
At 10 am, water started entering ground floor homes in Valmiki Nagar, AGS Colony, and Kamarajar Nagar in Thiruvanmiyur, Sastri Nagar in Adyar, Nethaji Colony, Ram Nagar, and Balakrishna Nagar of Velachery, Perambur's Paddy Field Road, Venkatraman Street, and Anna Nagar's S, P, and W Block.
C Raghukumar of Perambur said"Greater Chennai Corporation has not yet constructed a push-through culvert near Ganeshapuram subway, from where it flows to Otteri Nullah. Further, the road heights have been increased, leading to more water entering households," he said. On Perambur High Road, drains were overflowing due to poor gradients.
Thiru Vi Ka Nagar Zonal Officer A S Murugan said Otteri Nullah swelled in six spots. "The canal has to be desilted, boundary walls built to avoid breaches, and small arch culverts replaced with bigger ones. Only then Perambur, Pulianthope, Otteri, Anna Nagar, and Jamalia can handle heavy rain."
In Adyar, LB Road, and first and second avenue Sastri Nagar were elevated while relaying, leading to water flooding homes, said T D Babu. As LB Road's stormwater drain channel is blocked due to CMRL work, areas in Thiruvanmiyur too faced flooding. "CMRL has blocked the LB Road drain, which is supposed to connect to Buckingham Canal to drain water from Thiruvanmiyur and Adyar," said T Kanthimathinathan, coordinator Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority.
Kanthimathinathan said Velachery, Madipakkam, Pallikaranai, and Perungudi are flood plains, and stormwater drains cannot be a magic wand. "A permanent solution is to create direct links to the sea from Buckingham Canal."
In Avadi Corporation area, CTH Road, Avadi Bus Terminus, and 60-ft road are waterlogged. A Tharanitharan, a resident of Avadi TNHB Quarters, said, "The stormwater drain network on the 60-ft road was completed at a cost of ₹8 crore three years ago. But the wooden planks were not removed after construction, and it is of no use as water flows on the road."
"Kodungaiyur and Captain Cotton Canals were full and water is yet to drain. We need more food packets. No politician or official visited us last year or now," said Shakthi from Vyasai Thozhargal from JJ Nagar in Vyasarpadi.
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