With the northeast monsoon just days away, civic bodies in flood-hit parts of Tambaram and adjoining areas are gearing up to handle yet another bout of rain.
Residents said that in spite of the work on stormwater drains on Mudichur Road, which connects Tambaram with Mannivakkam and Padappai in Kancheepuram district, inundation will be inevitable. The slightest drizzle would lead to flooding, they added. Moreover, with many roads being concreted, a significant height difference is noticed along the sides, leading to rainwater stagnation and breeding of mosquitoes.
As part of monsoon mitigation work, the Tambaram municipality is constructing stormwater drains at Krishna Nagar in West Tambaram, and the Perungalathur town panchayat cleaned the drains at Bharathi Nagar and Goodwill Nagar.
However, residents felt that flooding on stretches such as Mudichur Road was inevitable as the stormwater drain network was lacking in many places between Tambaram and the Outer Ring Road intersection. “If they do not take up the road widening work as announced by the Chief Minister in the Assembly, the work undertaken by the local bodies would go waste,” said residents of Madhanapuram in Mudichur.
The district administration convened three inter-departmental meetings to ensure preparedness for this year’s monsoon. A control room will be set up for coordination between various departments. The civic bodies have been asked to chalk out plans to manage flooding by pumping out rainwater from the roads.
However, a Highways Department official said the drains had been cleaned up and connecting drains have been provided by the respective local bodies to drain out water into the Adyar river via the Adyar canal and Pappan Kalvai. An integrated road project is on the anvil where two-foot-wide drains would be constructed on both sides of the road, he said.
