Though the dry spell for the second consecutive day on Sunday came as a relief to city residents as mobility was not affected, the lackadaisical attitude of some officials in Madurai Corporation and Public Works Department irked them.
A visit to low-lying areas in the city and its peripheries by The Hindu team on Saturday and Sunday indicated that temporary restoration was moving either at a snail’s pace or it appeared like the officials were waiting for yet another heavy rainfall to occur.
The wards newly added to the Corporation area, including Koodal Pudur, Anaiyur, Park Town, P and T Nagar and Kosakulam, were in bad shape. Similarly, in some places close to the High Court Bench such as Uthangudi on the periphery, knee-deep water forced the residents to stay indoors.
Ellis Nagar 70 Feet Road and some interior roads in the locality have been rendered unmotorable and some stretches remain even dangerous, as described by the residents. Not only slush, but garbage too had not been removed in the area, they said.
Even before the rain, S.S. Colony, DSP Nagar, Sammattipuram and Harvey Nagar had bad roads, which was attributed to ongoing underground work. Vythianathapuram in Sellur and surrounding areas had stagnant water on the roads.
An official in the Disaster Management department, however, said that they were working almost 20 hours every day, coordinating with relief centres and other agencies and draining rainwater.
