It was 2 a.m. on December 1, 2015.
From his first-floor apartment at a gated community in Velachery, R. Gurumurthy, a septuagenarian, looked through the balcony window.
What he saw blew his mind away.
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The stilt car-parking area was almost entirely submerged and cars, including his, were floating.
There was no let-up in the rain, and he stepped out, wading through almost neck-deep water, to buy bread and candles at the shop meant for residents of the community. These essentials came at a steep price.
There were more horrors to follow and all of them are steeped in Gurumurthy’s memory.
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Now, the question is: Do people like Gurumurthy believe enough has been done since 2015 to ensure such flooding does not happen again?
Sundar, one of the residents of Vijaya Nagar, Velachery, says, “I don’t see any major change yet. Only after the drainage system, being built near Vijayanagar bus terminus, and the one in Taramani are completed can we be ready to face such a flood situation again.”
“Water from the Dandeeswaram and Perungudi areas should not be diverted to Velachery. Also, there should be an end to encroachment and dumping of garbage in Pallikkaranai marsh. Only this way, the mash can take a lot of floodwater,” adds Sundar.
Many residents of Madipakkam, Velachery, Ullagaram and Puzhuthivakkam have taken precautionary measures, such as fixing their EB boxes at a higher position, constructing rainwater harvesting pits, and increasing the height of the car parking areas. A few have even gone to the trouble of lifting their buildings.
This year, residents of Lakshmi Nagar, Nanganallur, suffered crippling inundation.
There was flooding on many roads in the locality in 2015 and the same roads were affected this year too.
There was waterlogging on both sides of 100Feet Road, First Main Road, 44th Street and 45th Street.
Residents say that the flooding resulted form the lacks of stormwater drains in these sections.
Saroja, a resident of Kubera Nagar in Madipakkam, says, “As stormwater drains have not been constructed properly and connected to the main drain in the southern part of Madipakkam, residential areas are getting flooded. Moreover, the drains are choked with garbage.”