T Nagar residents urge GCC to pump out water from premises

CHENNAI: With most of the localities in Chennai free from flooding this monsoon, residents in T Nagar urged the Greater Chennai Corporation to take measures to pump out stagnant water from their apartment buildings as water entered the buildings as road level went higher than the floor level.

"Most of the residential apartments in general, and particularly those abutting Usman Road in T Nagar, have encountered flooding in their premises. While the GCC will not own up responsibility for the same, still it cannot escape shirking its responsibility," T Nagar Residents Welfare Association said in a petition to the civic body.

The petition added that most of the apartments are decades old and when they were constructed, the road level was very much below the floor levels of the premises. "The relaying of roads over a period of time by the GCC has slowly and steadily pushed up the height of the road, with the result that the floor levels of the premises have now gone down far below the road," the petition pointed out.

It added that every year, during monsoon season, the residents face problems besides spending a sizable amount to restore the premises. Since the civic body is solely responsible for this situation, it has to offer a lasting solution. The residents can no longer face such a situation every year.

VS Jayaraman of the association riled that the residents have to spend from their pockets to pump the stagnant water out. "As sewage mixes with rainwater, the polluted water from the well, sump and overhead tanks also needs to be pumped out. All this means spending a hefty amount," he said.

When asked, a Chennai Corporation official said that roads can not be scrapped on a wide scale. "We also could not pump out water from the houses,” he said.