Admitting that 115 places were still waterlogged in Chennai city and its suburbs, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami attributed it to the heavy downpour over the past five days.
Inspecting various relief works across the city, he told reporters that the (northeast monsoon) in two months usually brings around 79 cm rainfall, but the city and its suburbs have already recorded 56.6 cm in five days.
However, the government has taken steps immediately to remove stagnant water. Out of 315 inundated localities, normality has been restored in 200 areas and work was on in the rest. Waterlogging in 22 under-passes have been fully cleared facilitating smooth traffic flow, he said.
Claiming that about 14,000 tonnes of silt have been removed along 1,500 km stretch resulting in rainwater draining fast, Mr. Palaniswami said the government was clearing encroachments on waterbodies as per the SC and HC guidelines.
He, along with Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, visited R.K. Nagar, Rettai Eri, Chitlapakkam and Pallavaram areas.
He asked the the authorities to take up long-term flood mitigation projects.
At Chitlapakkam, residents’ welfare association members gathered in large numbers to give the Chief Minister a first-hand information about repeated flooding in their areas.
They said water from the Selaiyur lake inundated their areas and it took almost four days for the administration to direct the water towards the Sembakkam lake.
Proposal pending
A proposal to construct a new channel connecting the two lakes at a cost of ₹96 crore was pending, they added.
Meanwhile, the Madurantakam lake in Kancheepuram district has reached its maximum height of 23 feet. As a result, additional water was let off in Kiliyaar. A flood warning has been issued to 21 villages on the banks of the lake.
In Kancheepuram, of the 961 lakes, a total of 117 reached their maximum capacity.
Relief operations in Chennai and Kancheepuram districts continued on Sunday with the government adding more hands to the ongoing efforts.
The government on Sunday ordered the deployment of 9 additional monitoring officers for the neighbouring district.
Mr. Palaniswami flagged off additional 200 special medical teams that would visit rain-affected areas.
The government should have got an initial flood damage estimate ready to present it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek funds when he visits city on Monday, but it has failed to do so, PMK founder S. Ramadoss said in a statement.
