On Friday, several parts of Moondrumavadi-Iyer Bungalow Road were flooded, as water overflowed from the Public Works Department channel that runs along the stretch of the road.
Since Thursday, around two cusecs of water is being released from Periyar Main Canal through the channel to recharge Parasurampatti tank. To facilitate road widening work, the PWD recently reduced the width and increased the depth of the channel, which runs for nearly 3.4 kilometres from Park Town to Moondrumavadi.
M. Ramalingam, owner of a two-wheeler workshop on Kannanenthal Main Road, said water from the channel was overflowing onto the streets for four hours since 2 p.m. on Friday. He said areas like Mahalakshmi Nagar and parts of Kannanendhal were inundated.
“When the city is reeling under water crisis, it is disheartening to see water being wasted,” he said.
The road undulates and is not on the same level of the channel. So, within minutes after release, water gushed onto the streets, said a resident.
The main issue was that the sluices in the channel were clogged with waste, said A. Ananda Kannan, an auto driver from Kannanendhal. “In order to drain the water from the streets, residents removed plastic and other waste from the sluices,” he said.
PWD Executive Engineer T. Subramanian said there was indiscriminate dumping of waste by the residents of the area and this had to be addressed. “Until recently, sewage was running in the channel. But, we have taken efforts so that water is now supplied to recharge the tank and improve groundwater level. So, the residents must stop dumping waste in the channel,” he said.
