CLOGGED DRAINS: Had such drains been desilted, lakes in the suburbs could have filled up and residential areas spared of flooding, say activists in southern suburbs. — PHOTO: A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM: The spells of rain since the third week of October in the city and its suburbs spread cheer among residents who had been suffering from an unusually extended summer. Since October 19, Tambaram has received 50 cm of rainfall, the highest being 10.6 cm on October 26 and 8.8 cm two days later.

Quite predictably, low-lying areas were inundated and residents had to resort to innovative methods to reach their houses in water-logged areas.

Many suburban localities resembled Venice; slum dwellers were evacuated to safety. But for the many water bodies in Tambaram Taluk, the showers hardly made any difference.

A glance at some of the lakes makes one wonder if it ever rained here. Of the over 200 lakes, tanks and ponds in the taluk, only half still survive as water bodies, serving as a source of water to residents and farmers. The most important reason for lakes receiving very little rainwater is due to the disappearance of water channels leading to these bodies. Tambaram Taluk has hills and hillocks from where rainwater runs off into the lakes during monsoon. Excess water from these lakes empties into the Pallikaranai marshland and the Bay of Bengal through the Buckingham Canal. Sadly, as activists point out, this routine has now been disturbed.

Be it water channels carrying rain water from the Pachamalai Hills in Tambaram or storm water drains in Alandur leading to the Adambakkam lake, all are clogged with silt, sewage, solid waste and construction debris. Due to poor planning of urban areas, water bodies have become casualties.

Basic maintenance

Office-bearers of various residents welfare associations and voluntary organisations wondered why government agencies were unable to carry out simple and basic maintenance works such as regular desilting of storm water drains and water channels. Activists said that the district administration, revenue and public works department and other government agencies, whose task is to protect natural resources, should work in tandem so that at least the remaining lakes could be saved.

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