The residents of Chitlapakkam, Bhagyalakshmi Nagar, LIC Nagar and Kakidapuram, Kovilambakkam; and Sai Ganesh Nagar and Pandian Nagar, Pallikarnai, have alleged that the authorities concerned failed to issue flood warnings on time. “When the Kovilambakkam lake canal bund was breached in the early hours of Monday, inundating Bhagyalakshmi Nagar and LIC Nagar, everyone was fast asleep. Within minutes, the water flooded the houses and the neighbourhoods were stinking as the water from the lake was mixed with sewage. The canal bund breached three times, but no warning was issued,” a resident said. “And then, aid was not offered after disaster struck. We had to move around in waist-deep water and had to bale out bucketfuls of water from our houses. The Kovilambakkam Village Panchayat didn’t take any steps to drain out the stagnant water or rescue the stranded people.”
More than 200 families reside in Sai Ganesh Nagar and Pandian Nagar, Pallikarani. Now, the houses in these neighbourhoods are completely inundated by water from Pallikaranai, Kovilambakkam and Narayanapuram lakes. The residents of these neighbourhoods complained that no warning was issued, before the flooding.
“The residents took up homes for rent in safer areas after the flooding. No immediate relief was provided to the flood-affected people in these neighbourhoods. We survived on whatever provisions we had,” the residents said. The release of water from the Selaiyur lake resulted in unprecedented flooding of Babu street, Thiru Vi Ka Street, Sairam Street, Veeravanchi Street, Pamban Swamigal Street, Vyasar Street, and Ashtalakshmi Street.
“If an alert had been issued, the residents would have relocated to safer places. Apart from alerts, steps should have also be taken to ensure that water released from lakes did not enter residential localities,” L. Sundararaman, a resident, said.
When contacted, Tamil Nadu National Disaster Management Authority, Government of India, officials said flood warnings were issued at periodic intervals, asking people to move to safe places with immediate effect. The officials denied the allegations made by the residents.
