City’s low-lying areas to be mapped

The Chennai Corporation will study 291 flood-prone places in the city to map low-lying areas before the monsoon.

Officials including the Chennai collector, highways department officials and traffic police representatives met with Corporation commissioner Vikram Kapur on Tuesday as part of disaster relief committee meeting for the city.

“As many as 291 locations in the city are flood prone as per the mapping done last monsoon. A revised mapping is likely to begin shortly to cope with natural calamities and cyclones during the northeast monsoon,” said an official.

Many low-lying areas have been found to experience lesser challenges due to construction of stormwater drains under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the official said.

Works covering 132 km of stormwater drains are underway in various flood-prone areas in the city. Most of the works will be completed this summer, the official said.

As many as 225 km of stormwater drains have been laid. Areas with water stagnation of more than a metre’s depth are classified as those with severe inundation.

As many such areas, including some of the 291 spots, have better drainage facilities now, there is a need for revised mapping to understand existing challenges, the official said.

Many of the flood-prone areas are in the added areas of Tiruvottiyur, Valsaravakkam, Perungudi and Sholinganallur zones. The Chennai Corporation has identified infrastructure for setting up 156 relief centres across the city to cope with natural calamities.

In 2012, the Chennai Corporation had identified flood-prone roads using inputs from the traffic police and planned solutions to ease traffic congestion.

The Chennai Corporation has commenced work on disaster preparedness early this year. Based on the new maps of flood-prone areas, the Chennai Corporation will prepare a disaster mitigation plan for the city. The plan will include safest and quickest routes to hospitals and relief centres.

- As many as 291 locations in the city are flood prone as per the mapping done last monsoon

- Works covering 132 km of stormwater drains are underway in various low-lying areas in the city