When rain returned on Monday with a vengeance, once again the inadequacies in infrastructure stood exposed.
The story was the same: water-logging, traffic chaos, hardships to citizens.
Usual scenes
As usual, Goods Shed Road, Lanka Corner Bridge, Kikkani underpass, Avanashi Road flyover and the one at North Coimbatore bore the brunt of rain fury. Stagnation of rainwater hit flow of traffic on Tiruchi Road at Ramanathapuram Junction, Nanjundapuram Road, Lakshmi Mills Junction, Women's Polytechnic Junction and Singanallur junction.
At Ramanathapuram, water from all directions headed towards Nanjundapuram Road. Authorities are yet to create a way out for the water to drain from Nanjundapuram Road.
The stretch from Lakshmi Mills Junction to Nava India (on the left side towards Airport) gets flooded even during a mild rain.
Traffic
On Monday, the entire traffic on the busy Avanashi Road came to a standstill during the peak hours, says Lalitha Jaiwanth Kumar, an executive with a bank in the city.
Residential colonies in Ukkadam, Selvapuram, Kothari Lay Out (Iyer Hospital Road area), Kongu Nagar were inundated.
Places where roads were dug to lay under ground drainage turned slushy, said Vijayalakshmi, a resident of Meena estate.
Sanganur Canal
Even as roads remained water logged, flow of water in the Sanganur canal was not much.
This clearly proved that the rainwater had not reached the canal. The reason: choked storm water drains.
Citizens should take the blame for this. Drainages and storm water drains were clogged with solid wastes, especially plastics and sanitary napkins.
Efforts of the civic authorities to help rainwater enter the drains by drilling holes on the pavements proved handy.
Corporation Commissioner T.K. Ponnusamy told The Hindu that the problems that cropped up last time when rain lashed the city were studied and solutions have been planned.
But before they could be implemented rain returned, he said. Most of the works would be completed before the onset of South West Monsoon next year, he added.
As part of a permanent solution for the water logging at the underpasses at Avanashi Road flyover and Kaleeswara Mill, the Corporation would lay a pipeline to Valankulam.
Pumps have already been placed at many other areas. Sanganur Canal would be cleansed immediately with assistance from the State Government.
Patchwork on roads would be carried out to make them motorable.
Mr. Ponnusamy claimed that on Monday the rain water could be drained within an hour or two unlike the previous occasions.
