The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will complete the dewatering of the major inundated residential areas and bus route roads in 48 hours, Corporation Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan said on Thursday.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the number of locations inundated in the 15 zones of the city has reduced from 382 on Wednesday to 189 as of Thursday.
Of the 488 bus route roads maintained by the GCC, 47 roads remained inundated on Wednesday due to the heavy rain caused by Cyclone Michaung. On Thursday, the number of roads with inundation was reduced to 20. “We have issues with roads such as P.S. Sivasamy Salai, Avvai Shanmugam Salai and Musiri Subramaniam Salai. We have cleared 90% of the city roads,” said Mr. Radhakrishnan.
The total length of the city roads in the 426 sq.km. of Chennai Corporation is more than 5,000 km. Pointing to the areas still under water, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the GCC is planning to de-water on a war footing in areas such as Velachery, Semmenchery, Madipakkam, Korattur, Teynampet, Manali, Choolai, Pulianthope and the residential areas near Narayanapuram Eri.
“In Manali zone, Sadayankuppam is flooded because of the Puzhal and Poondi Surplus Canal. We have around 240 boats ready for rescue and relief work. As many as 3,217 sanitary workers from other urban areas have reached the city. Work is afoot on a war footing,” said Mr. Radhakrishnan.
Mr. Radhakrishnan said the number of food packets distributed by the GCC has reduced from four lakh per day to three lakh on Thursday. Many volunteers have started the distribution of food packets in flood-affected residents. Aspirants from the Aram IAS Academy have converted the premises in Anna Nagar West into a kitchen, cooked food and distributed it to 6,000 flood-affected residents in areas such as Vyasarpadi, Retteri, Kolathur, Anna Nagar, Perungudi, Velachery, Madhavaram and Choolaimedu.
Meanwhile, Municipal Administration Minister K.N. Nehru on Thursday inspected relief work in various zones and launched the kitchen for preparation of food by the SRS Limited in Manali zone, and ordered officials to facilitate the distribution of food and relief materials for flood-affected residents.
