Neglected North Chennai bears the brunt of officials’ apathy

While residents of Athipattu-Pudhunagar had to vacate their homes, as water had started entering their homes, traffic crawled at Broadway, while inundation and bad road conditions created snarls. In Burma Nagar, residents said that water took over the roads and Corporation Park. Manali too saw severe waterlogging in many localities. Ramesh, an entrepreneur, said, “It took me twice as long to reach my workplace in Broadway.” 

However, it was the villages on the western side of Ennore, which bore the brunt as the encroachments on the major drains from the village has blocked the water from flowing into the Ennore Creek. Due to oil storage insulations by petrochemical companies such as Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), the blockage has resulted in residents having to move out temporarily. 

Researcher Pooja Kumar from the Coastal Resource Centre (CRC), who visited Athipattu-Pudunagar on Wednesday, said, “Water has entered homes in this village because the encroachment hasn’t allowed the runoff into the creek. Many of the residents had taken away their important documents such as ration cards and pattas to a safe place. This time, the concern is where will they go in case of excess rainfall? There  are no evacuation measures taken, such as providing shelter. In the past, when the water level increased, tents were put up in the railway station.”

However, if the water does go into the creek, the encroachments on the waterbody pose a risk to residents of Ennore, especially in places like Kattukuppam and Mugathwarakuppam. 

Srinivasan Rajesh, a fisherman from Kattukuppam, echoed the sentiments of the residents in his locality, when he said, “What will happen when water enters the creek? We will face severe floods due to encroachment. We have ran campaigns after campaigns, but have not received any attention from the authorities.”