Babies are fed medicine in liquid form with a traditional tiny, antlike bowl with a pointed lip, one that is called paladai in the vernacular. It is usually a herculean effort as the little one would refuse to take the medicine, coaxing and force producing the same unimpressive result.
On the evening of November 30 (a day after the rain fest) a section of the stormwater drain on Pulla Avenue in Shenoy Nagar was similarly relcalcitrant, refusing to gulp the rainwater. There was coaxing: sludge removed from the drain was parked on the pavement. There was force: a motor was pressed into duty to direct the water straight into the bowels of the stormwater drain. The drain was throwing up the water right back at the workers engaged in the work. “There is back-flow,” one of the workers remarked.
This section — the junction of Pulla Avenue and Fifth Cross Street in front of the Shenoy Nagar skating rink — is known for its tantrums during monsoon.
A Greater Chennai Corporation familiar with the issue pointed out that this section of the stormater drain was old and needed to be replaced. He further disclosed the issue had been escalated to higher officials along with a proposal for replacing the stormwater drain with fresh construction.
An image of how the Pulla Avenue-Fifth Cross Street junction looked on November 30 | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK
Interestingly, new stormwater drain exists hard by, on the other side of the Pulla Avenue-Fifth Cross Street junction. And on the evening of December 1, the workers managed to convey the stagnant rainwater through hoses into that section of the stormwater drain.
As along as the problem persisted, not only a patch of Pulla Avenue, but the entrance to Fifth Cross Street was hugely inundated. While undertaking the remedial work, workers barricaded this entrance, which necessitated that residents temporarily use other access routes into their neighbourhood.
Published - December 03, 2023 10:29 pm IST
