Though residents had a respite on Sunday from a long spell of rain, they continued to grapple with its impact. The city's infrastructure stood exposed, with roads remaining flooded, traffic slowing down on damaged roads and drains overflowing.
Residents in many areas said that though water had drained off the main roads, interior roads were still flooded.
“There is a lot of slush on the roads and with sewage mixing with the rainwater mosquitoes are breeding. Unless the Corporation takes preventive steps, we may end up with dengue and malaria,” said Padma, a resident of Toll Gate in Tiruvottiyur.
Incomplete stormwater drain (SWD) works across the city and the newly extended areas only added to the woes. Residents of Narayani Apartments in Sridevi Garden in Valasaravakkam said the SWD in their area had not been completed and that some had been wounded after falling into the uncovered drains.
“Water has entered all homes on the ground floor. Power supply has also been cut. While we are struggling with knee-deep water that has flowed here from the Maduravoyal lake, Corporation workers are pumping in water from the neighbouring street as someone there has complained,” said S. Ramesh, secretary of Narayani Apartments Residents' Welfare Association.
Residents such as R. Lakshminarasimhan spent the morning searching for temporary accommodation. “My son is in his XII class and daughter, in engineering college and we are in the midst of their exams. Some neighbours have locked their homes and gone to stay with friends and relatives.”
L. Rajkumar of Bhuvaneshwari Nagar in Velachery said, “A proposal to construct a SWD in 2nd Cross Street was dropped as it was not feasible. We had about 9 inches of water inside our homes and we used a mini motor to pump it out after the councillor and corporation officials cut a channel to drain the water.” he said. SWD work in many places had not been completed in Velachery.
Minister for Municipal Administration K.P. Munusamy said that a consultant had been appointed for identifying areas that are prone to water logging in the expanded Chennai Corporation.
