Rain exposes Madurai city’s famed water mgmt system

Madurai: A week after Madurai bagged a national award for water management from the Union jal shakti ministry, rains have exposed the city’s vulnerability as inundation and flooding in many parts have raised concerns over the water management system.

Earlier on Tuesday, minister for cooperatives, Sellur K Raju and officials inspected the affected areas after heavy rain lashed the city on Monday.

“It has been decided to create wells at a cost of Rs 30 lakh to store the rainwater and then pump it out,” Raju said.

The minister, who visited one of the worst-affected areas connecting Vanamamalai Nagar, Duraisamy Nagar and Velusamy Nagar in ward number 76, said that some parts of the city had gone below the road level due to developmental activities.

“Funds would be sanctioned immediately and two wells would be created on these roads, which would in turn be pumped into the Krithumalnathi channel,” he said.

The minister, who was accompanied by corporation commissioner S Visakan, said that the civic body had taken stock of buildings which are in a dilapidated condition, and notice issued to the owners.

District collector T Anbazhagan inspected the Anantha Nagar Keelapangadi Petchikulam panchayat and directed the public works department (PWD) officials to ensure that the supply channels to the tank be cleared and ready to carry excess water due to rain.

He said that 27 places in the district have been identified as vulnerable spots and all steps had been taken to ensure that they did do not experience flooding. “Shelters to house people in case of emergencies are also ready,” Anbazhagan said.

Meanwhile, DMK’s Madurai central MLA, P T R Palanivel Thiagarajan in a tweet said that the condition of roads in his constituency - referring to the flooded Masi Streets near the Meenakshi temple - was due to the smart city scam in the state.

He rued that not a single elected representative was consulted prior to the beginning of smart city works.

The two days of rain resulted in Madurai district recording an average rainfall of 33.11mm with the highest rainfall of 60.5mm recorded at the Madurai airport. It was followed by Viraganur (57mm), Tallakulam (52mm), Sholavandan (51mm), Madurai South (45.6mm), Idayapatti (45mm), Andipatti (40mm), Vadipatti (39mm), Thirumangalam (37.6mm), Usilampatti (31.2mm) and Melur (30mm).