t was a day as usual for the bus crew, passengers, and commuters until the rain started late evening on Friday. The city’s traffic almost came to a grinding halt with an hour of heavy rain, inundating many arterial roads. Almost all drains, including storm-water drains, were overflowing soon after the rain. Several of them clogged.
It took more than an hour for buses to clear from traffic snarl on Madurai Road as a large number of buses, cars, vans, and two-wheelers were lined up due to flow of knee-deep water on the road.
Since the rain forced the traffic policemen to move out from duty spots, the vehicle movement went disarray. They found it extremely difficult to move forward.
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Similar was the scene in low-lying pockets such as Thillai Nagar Main Road, Shastri Road, Thennur Main Road, Lawsons Road, Puthur Main Road, and Woraiyur. Most cars, including buses opting out of Melapudur subway, which was clogged with rainwater, and took circuit routes to reach their destinations.
Areas such as K.K. Nagar, L.I.C. Colony, and neighbouring areas presented same look. Several two-wheelers were stranded as rainwater made the engine dysfunctional. Pedestrians had to wade through the rainwater mixed with sewage.
“One-hour rain has exposed the poor system of drains of the city. Many of the roads are flooded with rainwater.
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The forthcoming monsoon season will make our life difficult,” feared a driver of State-owned transport corporation.
Stating that the corporation was yet to start precautionary measures to face the monsoon, a civic activist said the monsoon was just a couple of weeks away from now.
It is time to clean all open drains and canals to reactivate them to ensure smooth flow.