Intermittent showers accompanied by strong winds clocking speeds upto 45 – 55 km/hr led to the collapse of an old building, housing a fancy shop, on Bharathi Salai, Triplicane, late Saturday evening. A 25-year-old youth was injured in the incident. A portion of a house adjacent to the building also fell down, police said.
Elsewhere in the city throughout the day the residents had to contend with waterlogged roads, power disruption, and traffic jams. Every spell of the rain on Saturday brought more problems for the road-users, particularly for two-wheeler riders and cyclists as they were forced to take shelter. In the process, the limited space available on the waterlogged roads was further reduced.
With knee deep water on Santhome High Road, traffic police closed the stretch between MRC Nagar and All India Radio. People returning home in the evening were caught for nearly two hours in crawling traffic on Erukkancheri High Road. The Moolakadai junction where a flyover is being constructed witnessed chaotic traffic.
Water-logging on roads led to slow movement of traffic. “It is tough waiting on flyovers. Applying brakes constantly and changing gears only guzzles up fuel. If only water-logging could be prevented at least on the main roads, it would help in better traffic flow,” said M.Anandan, who took nearly an hour to reach Poonamallee High Road from Adyar in the afternoon.
It was a day when autorickshaw drivers benefited the most. Rates almost doubled, even as most commuters felt the shortage of autorickshaws on roads. The traffic on Anna Salai and Cenotaph Road remained busy even afternoon. “Everyone is using the main roads to avoid driving through waterlogged interior roads. But even these are no good,” said Devarajan, an autorickshaw driver in Adyar.
Nungambakkam High Road, Kaliamman Koil Street, Nesapakkam junction, Valluvar Kottam High Road, MGR Salai, Strahans Road in Pattalam and Brick Kiln Road in Otteri were among the roads that had water stagnation and potholes. Over 100 calls pertaining to inundation of low-level areas in the city was received by the Chennai Corporation's toll free helpline 1913. A tree on LB Road in Adyar was uprooted.
Campuses and buildings that were situated below the road level had water entering from the road.
Sources in the Institute of Road Transport, Taramani, which was completely submerged, said the Institute functions during the rainy season only because a shuttle service is operated between the main gate and the portico at regular intervals.
An official, who has worked at IRT for over three decades, said that a permanent solution could be found only if the height of the campus was raised. He also blamed the Chennai Corporation for not preventing stormwater drains from emptying into the campus. During the monsoon, the campus remains flooded for at least 3 to 4 days, he added. In the meantime, driver training at IRT test track also gets suspended.
Following the overnight rain, the Collectorate and School Education Department declared a holiday for schools on Saturday. Officials of the Department waited till Saturday morning to take the decision, as most government and aided schools are trying to maximise every working day to complete the newly-introduced Samacheer Kalvi syllabus ahead of the term-end examinations to be held in December.
A well marked low-pressure area moving from the Bay of Bengal has moved northwestwards and intensified into a depression and lay centred over Lakshadweep and adjoining Maldives and Comorin, about 220 km west of Thiruvananthapuram.
The observatories in Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 4 cm and 2 cm of rainfall during the 12-hour period ending 8.30 p.m. Saturday.
During the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, Mamallapuram registered 16 cm and Korattur and Poonamallee received 9 cm each, Kelambakkam received 5 cm each; Poondi, Anna University and DGP Office registered 4 cm each.
The forecast for Sunday says a few spells of rain or thundershowers are likely, heavy at times. Surface winds will be strong and gusty.
