The deluge in December last year caused by the overflowing Chembarambakkam Lake ravaged the city, particularly the vast stretch along Porur Lake. Several places including Manapakkam, Porur, Ramapuram, Mugalivakkam, Valasaravakkam, and Kundrathur were submerged and it took more than a month for the residents to recover.
People are still concerned about inundation owing to the slow pace of infrastructure projects in the region.
The flood caused huge financial losses in the form of damage to cars and property. The lack of proper desilting of stormwater drains and cleaning of waterbodies resulted in areas on the banks of the Adyar and near the Porur Lake facing the brunt of the floods.
S. Swathi of Matha Nagar recollects the day when she was rescued by boatmen after her single-storey house was submerged. “As the water level rose very suddenly, we had no time to shift our belongings. We had to spend almost Rs. 3 lakh after that to renovate the house,” she said.
S. Arunagiri, an office-bearer of residents welfare associations of Mugalivakkam, said they are keeping their fingers crossed about stormwater drain facilities being constructed.
While welcoming the initiative by the Chennai Corporation to construct a draining facility and an integrated stormwater drain project in several areas of Manapakkam and Mugalivakkam, he hoped there would be integration of the draining facility with the Adyar.
K.S. Kannan, a social activist from Mugalivakkam, said the visit of Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraiswamy to their areas to inspect the ongoing stormwater drain work has provided a ray of hope to residents.
While the stormwater drain department of the civic body is taking steps to construct stormwater drains to prevent flooding, residents are not happy at the pace of the infrastructure work.
