GCC failure to desilt stormwater drains led to flooding, blame residents

"As per the rules, the stormwater drains should have manholes at every 5 metres so that desilting works can be carried out. But, stormwater drains across the city don't have manholes at road junctions," V Gopalakrishnan, an activist in KK Nagar said.

Gopalakrishnan pointed out that MGR Nagar junction (on Anna Main Road) was completely inundated as the flow of water got affected as the civic body could not carry out desilting works properly.

When DT Next visited Anna Main Road in KK Nagar, one end of the road, near Ashok Nagar Metro Station, was seen flooded and workers were pumping the rainwater out from one side of the road to another.

"If the stormwater drains beneath the junction desilted, there would have been no reason for using pumps. This is the situation in most of the junctions. Nearby localities witness water logging due to this," Gopalakrishnan added.

When asked, a Chennai Corporation senior official acknowledged the issue and said workers could not enter the drains due to rules against manual scavenging. "As there are no manholes at the junctions, we use jet rodding machines to remove the clog. At the bigger junctions, there are some issues and measures have been taken to remove water from roads," the official added.

Recently, the civic body completed desilting of stormwater drains of a total length of around 780 kilometres.

Meanwhile, Bhavanandam, a shop owner on Anna Main Road alleged that the civic body left the stormwater drain works incomplete. "Corporation constructed a stormwater drain on the road. On the south side of the road, drain work was completed only at one portion. The Corporation failed to link the new drain to the old drain. Moreover, the old drain is closed preventing the flow of water. Due to this, it takes several hours for the water to recede," he said.