With parts of the city under layers of water, canals overflowing and tanks and ponds filling up quickly, many residents are fearing a repeat of the situation in the aftermath of the 2015 floods. In areas like Otteri, Korukkupet, MGR Nagar, Madipakkam, Pallikaranai, Avadi and Mudichur, entire streets are under at least knee-deep water.
Bharthi Shridhar, a resident of LIC Nagar in Madipakkam, said, “During the 2015 floods, we had to vacate our homes as snakes and other reptiles entered our houses, along with the rainwater. We are afraid this may happen again. It has rained for only two days and there is already so much waterlogging.”
With water threatening to enter homes, residents of Sathya Nagar, MGR Nagar, are immensely worried. They have packed the school books of their children and important documents in plastic covers. “We lost everything in the 2015 floods; this time, we are prepared,” said S. Lalitha, a domestic worker.
“We are only hoping it doesn’t get worse,” said P. Gnanasekar, another resident, recalling the situation two years ago, when families on his street had to be evacuated to a nearby school.
On third street, Secretariat Colony, Kellys, residents complained about knee-deep water stagnation. “Every time it rains, the entire street gets flooded. No matter how many times we complain to local officials, nothing is done to resolve the problem,” said Prachi Aggarwal, a resident. She added that many shops have been closed due to inundation
Dilapidated buildings
The heavy rain has caused severe hardship to the residents of the Tamil Nadu Housing Board (TNHB) quarters in Avadi, who are finding it difficult to access the road, which is in a battered condition because of water stagnation, said Babu Ganesh, a social activist. “The building in which a library is housed is in a dilapidated condition. We are afraid it may collapse during the rain,” he said.
In neighbouring Pattabhiram and Mittanamallee too, bad roads are a major issue. Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said the condition of roads had gone from bad to worse after just two days of rain. “Accidents happen here repeatedly. But nobody is taking steps to make the roads motorable again,” he added.
Appeal by police
The police has appealed to netizens, especially IT employees, not to spread any unconfirmed information through social media or mobile messaging platforms with regard to rain forecasts or news about the breach of the banks of waterbodies.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Adyar M. Rohit Nathan, in his address at a programme organised by NASSCOM, appealed to IT employees to form WhatsApp groups to render relief and rehabilitation to people who were affected due to the rain.
In West Tambaram, Mudichur and Perungalathur, water logging forced residents to remain indoors for the second day in a row on Wednesday.
Residents living close to a tributary of the Adyar were the worst affected by water stagnation.
Since the rain relented on Tuesday night, water receded from Royappa Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar, Ashtalakshmi Nagar and Bhuvaneswari Nagar in Varadarajapuram.
However in areas such as Annai Anjuham Nagar, Samathuva Periyar Nagar, Indira Nagar and Kannan Avenue, sewage mixed with water from stormwater drains caused inundation.
Warning by Collector
With lakes and tanks in Kancheepuram district fast getting filled up, Collector, P. Ponnaiah warned of severe action against anyone damaging the bunds of waterbodies.
Enquiries reveal that out of the 924 lakes maintained by the Public Works Department in Kancheepuram district, 69 have filled up and the water level in another 136 has crossed 75% of their capacity. Meanwhile, 149 lakes/tanks have registered a water storage of above 50 to 75%.
The Collector asked the departments concerned to keep vigil over waterbodies.
(With inputs from R. Srikanth, T. Madhavan, R. Sivaraman, Aditi.R and V. Venkatasubramanian)
