Cyclone Fengal: Stormwater drain failures leave Chennai submerged

CHENNAI: The northeast monsoon's first cyclone has induced intense rainfall in the capital and its neighbours for the last two days. The fierce downpour transformed many of the metropolitan areas, including Velachery, OMR, Mylapore, Perambur and Anna Nagar, into temporary water bodies. Residents across the city shared their woes and that the local body's efforts in pumping out stagnant water did not help as it triggered a vicious cycle where water gets reversed from stormwater drains in the residential areas.

On the stormy Saturday, Chennai received 84.86 mm of rainfall from 8 am to 8 pm. As many as 553 pockets across the city saw waterlogging, but water has been drained in only 172 places using 1,686 motor pumps. The Greater Chennai Corporation is relentlessly engaged in providing relief to the remaining 381 places.

The civic body is in the process of creating a pond adjacent to the six-vent culvert in Velachery, which is the main source for the excess rainwater in the residential areas in the neighbourhood to reach the sea.

Incompetent desilting works and lack of capacity near the six-vent culvert directly affect the denizens in the form of mass water stagnation.

"Dumping of debris blocked the water flow at the six-vent culvert. After multiple complaints to the corporation commissioner and the chief secretary, steps were taken to remove the debris. We were relieved and hoped that there would be no inundation because the culvert was in working order. But, the pond being created by the GCC disrupts water flow," said M Balakrishnan,

secretary of Tansi Nagar Residents Welfare Association in Velachery.

The pipes in the pond are obstructing the flow into the culvert at Velachery-Perungudi Road. The stagnation in the pond creates a blockage in water flow, and there is a threat of flooding in various streets, including Sarathy Nagar, Tansi Nagar, VGP Selva Nagar, and Balamurugan Nagar. Balakrishnan, secretary of Tansi Nagar Welfare Association in Velachery, shared his despair that even moderate rains in the city lead to stagnation in the area, mainly caused by the pond.

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Unfortunately for residents of Pattalam and Perambur in north Chennai, monsoons are synonymous with never-ending waterlogging. The residents fume that the civic body has failed to desilt the SWDs in time, which has led to the current flooded situation triggered by Fengal.

"Shoddy desilting works and the lackadaisical attitude of the local authorities in addressing the restoration of the dilapidated stormwater drain in the neighbourhoods despite our relentless follow-up are the reasons why residential areas continue suffering in monsoon," C Raghukumar, a resident of Perambur.

With strong winds and relentless rains came power outages that added to the misery in several parts of the city. The most affected areas were the low-lying areas where water stagnation was considerably higher than in other places.

Pattalam residents urged the State government and Chennai Corporation to arrange rescue boats to help people where rainwater could get reversed from existing SWDs due to the lack of interlinking.

"We have been witnessing knee-deep water levels due to the heavy rainfall for the last two days. Even though the civic body has tried to use the motor pumps to pump out the stagnated rainwater and discharge into the SWD, it is not efficient. If the corporation arranges for the boats, the residents will prepare and distribute food ourselves," said R Boopathy, a civic activist from Pattalam.

According to GCC, during the northeast monsoon, from October 15 to November 30, as many as 50,533 complaints have been received through helpline number 1913 from the public regarding water logging and tree falls. The local body has addressed 39,739 complaints so far, and steps have been taken to resolve 10,795 grievances.