Flood gates opened, farmers angry

CHENNAI: After facing pressure from residents of waterlogged Thiruninravur , the state government has finally thrown open the flood gates of Thiruninravur Lake, angering farmers who demanded the water in the reservoir be preserved for irrigation.Even two weeks after the floods receded, Thiruninravur, near Avadi, is one of the last few localities to be still under water, thanks to more than 2,000 encroaching structures that have been built on the lake bed over the last 25 years. Four of the 18 wards of the Thiruninravur town panchayat have been under 6-foot-deep rainwater for more than 40 days now, while the lake itself is nearly 95% full.Against its capacity of 149mcft, the lake contained 139mcft until the flood gates were opened on Wednesday. After the flood gates were thrown open, water has been draining out through the Kottamedu and Ramar Kovil canals, with policemen on watch to prevent tussles between residents and farmers. Relief though will come after some days, as locals said it will take at least a week for water to drain. The locality had been inundated for over three months during the 2005 floods and residents had to move out and come back after floods receded. Meanwhile, the ruling party has accused the previous DMK regime for the inundation in the area.Finance and public works department minister O Panneerselvam said the DMK governments facilitated encroachments on the lake since 1990 and should be held responsible for the floods.In a statement, he said, “About 50 acres of the Thiruninravur Lake is encroached by huts and tenements.” Most of the homes are now under the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board.According to the PWD minister, there are 2,467 encroachments allotted to more than a thousand beneficiaries in Periyar Nagar, Muthamizh Nagar, Kannigapuram and Swadesi Nagar. The homes that lie on one corner of the 12-feet high lake bed are built five feet lower than the lake surface. As a result, the homes are inundated when water in the lake reaches just 7-feet high. On Wednesday, the lake contained water 11-feet high.Government orders in 1996 and 1997 by DMK administration regulated encroachments on 49.74 acres of the lake bed, he charged. Panneerselvam said, “The DMK government’s move to regulate the encroachments in 1990 was a major blunder. Even worse, PWD’s instructions to ensure the structures are built on a 4.5m high elevation were ignored. As a result, flooding in Thiruninravur is inevitable.”In 2007, the Madras high court ordered construction of retention walls and canals to alleviate flooding. But the retention walls failed to prevent flooding as the houses were built on a low-lying area.