Rain lashed the city for several hours from 5 p.m. on Thursday throwing normal life out of gear. It caused flooding on roads, including Santhome High Road and G. N. Chetty Road in T. Nagar, EVK Sampath Salai in Vepery, G.P. Road and Rajiv Gandhi Salai. Subways were closed for traffic and motorists had to struggle with poor visibility.
Following a rain forecast for Friday, the Collectors of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram have declared a holiday for schools.
The rain affected the movement of several flights at Chennai airport and slowed down local trains on the Chennai Beach-Tambaram route. The core city and the southern suburbs bore the brunt of the rain. As of 10.30 p.m., Chennai recorded 11.9 cm, the Ennore port 4 cm and Meenambakkam 9.7 cm.
Though residents woke up to a warm day with Nungambakkam recording a maximum of 30.1 degree Celsius and Meenambakkam 30.4 degree Celsius, by 2 p.m. the skies darkened and the city witnessed widespread moderate rainfall.
T. Nagar resident Indu Raghuraman, who had started with her son for his violin class by 6 p.m., had to rush back half way due to heavy showers.
“We had power till 9.30 p.m. despite very heavy rain accompanied by lightning and thunder. But after that, the supply went off. If it continues to rain like this through the night, our sewer lines will get blocked,” she said in a worried tone.
Many were stuck at their offices since visibility on the roads was very poor . R. Guruprasad, a resident of Velachery, said the residents were lucky that there was no water logging in his area despite the heavy rain on Thursday evening. “But there is no power supply. We hope it will be restored soon,” he added.
However, the rain was mainly restricted to the city. Many areas in neighbouring Kancheepuram, excepting for those coming under city’s southern suburbs, experienced only a drizzle, said V. Sundaram, a resident of Kancheepuram.
Ministers review work
At the Chennai Corporation, Fisheries Minister D. Jayakumar, Tamil Development Minister Ma Foi Pandiarajan, Revenue Minister R. B. Udayakumar and others met and reviewed the relief and rescue work carried out by the civic body.
“We have identified vulnerable locations but cannot prevent waterlogging. However, we can remove the water immediately. These spots should have motor sets, super suckers and JCBs to remove the water and the field-level staff should work efficiently,” Mr. Udayakumar told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, the rains have lead to clogging and overflowing of sewer lines, sewage mixing with rainwater and a slow down in garbage clearance. Arun Sampath Kumar, secretary, Secretariat Colony Residents Welfare Association, said that sewage was getting mixed with the stagnant rainwater in his locality due to incomplete stormwater drain network.
‘Fear of disease’
Ashok, a resident of Anbu Colony in Anna Nagar, said that due to the rain and a block in the sewer system, the toilet in his house started overflowing.
“We fear a disease outbreak,” he said. Motorists on Stephenson Road near Perambur said that sewage was being let out from an apartment complex on to the road.
“It mixes with rainwater and causes as a major problem for road users, especially pedestrians and two-wheeler riders,” said V. Manickam, a motorist.
After the downpour on Wednesday, South Perumal Koil Street, Vadapalani, was filled with sludge and sewage. Residents said that crossing the lanes to reach the main road to head to work was tough.
“It took me around 10 minutes to cross the road. There was garbage and sludge everywhere. Last evening was even worse,” said N. Aakash, an IT employee. He added that following complaints from residents, conservancy workers from the Corporation came to the street and cleaned all of it up.
(With inputs from Vivek Narayanan, Sunitha Sekar, Aditi. R and Deepa H. Ramakrishnan)