Citing the inundation of the arterial roads during the recent spell of rain in the city, the DMK councillors on Wednesday flayed the City Corporation for failing to gear up adequately for the monsoon.
Raising the issue at the Council meeting, M. Anbazhagan, former deputy mayor, alleged that the Corporation has failed to clear the silt from all storm water drains in the city.
The Shastri Road, Thillai Nagar and Puthur Main Road were inundated during the sharp showers as drainage canals in Thennur and Puthur areas had not been cleared even though there was adequate warning about the impending rain, he said.
The Lawsons Road was inundated so heavily that the rain water was flowing above the road median, said T. Muthuselvam.
Refuting the charges firmly, V.P. Thandapani, Corporation Commissioner, said the Corporation had removed silt from storm-water drains for a stretch of about 300 km and attributed the inundation to the heavy rain. To say that preventive measures were inadequate was an affront to the corporation workers who had put in hard work to clear the drains.
“It was only due to the extensive silt removal that was taken up by the Corporation that the rain water drained within a few hours. Otherwise, the water would have stagnated for a couple of days,” said City Engineer R. Chandran.
Mayor A. Jaya said she had personally inspected the silt removal works on several drains across the city.
Mr. Muthuselvam also alleged that a vehicle-mounted anti-mosquito fogging machine of the Corporation was in disrepair for over a year now.
The hand held machines provided to the zones were inadequate.
Mr. Chandran said although the machine is in disrepair for about a month, and handheld machines have been provided for all zones. City Health Officer S. Mariappan contended that the handheld machines were adequate to carry fogging operations as they could be used for three wards which was the area that a machine-mounted machine could cover.
Mr. Thandapani said two new large fogging machines would be purchased by the Corporation soon.
