There is always something you can do in your corner of the world to make things better for yourself and others. This is exactly what a few residents’ groups are doing, post-2015 floods. These groups have borne the brunt of the floods and are now determined to safeguard their turf against flooding.
For example, in June 2017, residents of DLF Garden City in Semmancheri laid a stormwater channel, every ten feet, along what is called Garden City Road. They had carried out the exercise with the consent of the officials concerned.
The system
The rainwater goes into the channel and then into the Nullah. They have installed a grill at the mouth of each channel. Garbage such as waste paper, polythene sheets or trees debris, collects at the grill and does not enter the channel. Through wall markings, the spots where the channels are located are identified. So, when there is knee-level water, anyone can spot a channel and remove the garbage found at the grill.
“We went with officials to survey Karanai, Semmancheri and Perumbakkam. Using the sketch of each neighbourhood, we detected blocks in the drainage system, studied the water flow and how to distribute the water load,” says Janardhanam P.V.S., president, OMR Garden City Condominium Owners Welfare Association.
A week ago, just before the onset of monsoon, Association members engaged workers to clean the drainage channels. The Association also carried out a tree-planting exercise inside and outside the community, to ensure excess rainwater is absorbed.
Similarly, Rajaji Nagar, Villivakkam, which went under three to four feet of water in 2015, now seems far from the possibility of inundation.
Debris removed
Residents of Rajaji Nagar and the adjacent areas use First Link Road, Second Link Road and the western side of First Street to reach Villivakkam Railway Station and the southern side of Villivakkam bus stand and other important facilities. Even after a gentle downpour, these stretches get inundated.
The Welfare Association of Rajaji Nagar has many a time apprised Corporation officials of this problem. The officials would promise to take necessary action, but the problem persisted.
“A team of volunteers from our Association spent a day clearing the debris that had accumulated in the SWDs. Using Association funds, we also laid a three-feet-wide platform using debris and slabs on both the stretches to help passers-by walk without having to put their feet in stagnant water,” says a member of the Association.
In Mandaveli, three streets solved their water stagnation crisis in three unique ways.
Soon after the 2015 floods, residents of T.P. Scheme Road, which is yet to be provided with SWDs, created a system whereby excess rainwater drained into the Adyar canal, located adjacent to the street.
Srinivasan, a resident of Velayutha Raja Street, explains how a slope was created on the pothole-ridden street to facilitate the flow of rainwater on Velayutha Raja Street into the SWD at Raja Street.
Similarly, a speed-breaker was also set up to prevent water from R.K. Mutt Road from entering the area.
To address the problem of water stagnation on one end of Raja Street East, Ganga Sridhar, a resident, lodged an online complaint.
“Officials went around neighbourhood and audited all the SWDs to solve the problem. The SWDs were desilted last year as well as this year. We also pressed for fumigation and pruning of trees as a precautionary measure,” she says.
On a similar note, 20 members of K.K. Nagar 14th Sector Residents Welfare Association desilted the SWDs on their street, which has 350 houses.
“We had suffered a great deal due to the SWDs not being desilted. This September, we cleared the SWDs and sought help from the Corporation to take away the debris,” says Ravi Shankar, secretary of the Association.
