DMK president M.K. Stalin on Thursday alleged that the failure of the Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami and Local Administration Minister S.P. Velumani to take precautionary measures had resulted in inundation of Chennai following overnight rains.
“Chennai is not able to withstand rain even for a day. People fear that there will be a repeat of flooding that ravaged Chennai in December 2015,” he said in a statement.
Mr Stalin said that the Greater Chennai Corporation should have prepared for the monsoon by desilting stormwater drainages.
“Though Rs 750 crore was allotted for the purpose there was corruption and irregularities. It was brought to light by Arappor Iyakkam. But neither the DVAC nor the Vigilance Department of the Greater Chennai Corporation came forward to probe into the allegations,” he charged.
Mr Stalin accused the Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner and other engineers of having connived with Mr Velumani and failed in taking precautionary measures.
“The AIADMK government has failed to learn any lessons from the 2015 flooding and now its failure has angered the people. Water has stagnated on roads that look like ponds. Vehicular movement has come to a stand still,” he said.
Mr Stalin said Chennai already failed to face COVID-19 and now failed in its preparations for the rain. “The Chief Minister and Local Administration Minister should feel ashamed for the inundation of the City,” he said.
Contending that if urban local body elections were conducted, the councillors would have rushed to the field to be with the people, Mr Stalin charged the AIADMK Government had turned the administration of Greater Chennai Corporation into a laughing stock.
“Since the meteorological department has predicted heavy rain, efforts should be made to drain the water and make safety arrangements for people living in low lying areas,” he said.
