One of the earliest planned townships of Chennai city, Anna Nagar has always been considered a self-sufficient neighbourhood, and its residents prided themselves on the wide, well-laid, shaded roads — until December 2015 when water overflowing from a canal flooded the houses of both affluent and low-income homes. Local MLA and AIADMK leader S Gokula Indira visited areas affected by the floods and carried out rescue work.
Kalyani, a conservancy worker, said, “The government helped us after the flood but not all of us got the cash relief. Building a proper canal is the only thing to do to prevent flooding but neither DMK nor AIADMK have paid attention to it.” Anna Nagar was once a DMK bastion having elected leaders such as M Karunanidhi and ‘Arcot’ N Veerasamy in the past.
Now, many low-income families say they will only vote for AIADMK but the middle and upper classes feel let down by politicians and say only community-based initiatives lead to solutions, irrespective of who comes to power. They are unhappy that successive governments have not been decisive in implementing permanent solutions to civic woes — flooding, sewage, garbage disposal and traffic congestion.
A Chokkalingam, a resident of Anna Nagar for over two decades, says obstructions in waterways like Otteri canal were a major cause for the flooding. “Illegal constructions have come up on the canal. Every monsoon, there is flooding. The MTC depot and Tirumangalam police station get flooded. Sewage lines get blocked.”
Anand Subramaniam, a resident of Arumbakkam, said the flooding in Anna Nagar “was not as bad as it was in other parts of the city.” He added: “But we saw the petty side of some of residents emerge, when one day during the floods, a group of people from affluent families staged a road roko, demanding that power be restored to their homes when the entire city was suffering.” Residents do appreciate that the Thirumangalam flyover was finally inaugurated and a new foot overbridge on School Road was opened.