Chennai Floods: Prolonged water stagnation concerns residents

CHENNAI: Prolonged stagnation of rainwater in many areas in north and south Chennai due to the recent heavy rainfall in the city on December 4 due to cyclone Michaung.

Though the civic body claims that the majority of the areas are relieved from inundation. The residents of the affected areas have undergone severe hardship due to waterlogging for the past six days. They find it difficult to get essentials for their livelihood.

Residents of Vyasarpadi, Manali, Taramani, Pallikaranai, Ennore and Velachery are still struggling to come out of their areas due to inundation. The civic body continues to pump out the stagnated water in the affected areas.

However, the water gets reversed, and the locality has been flooded again.

A resident of Taramani said, "Almost after three days, the corporation workers started to drain out the stagnated rainwater on the roads. But the road is not getting any better, it has been water logged. We are tired of raising complaints and even the workers are clueless about why the water is not receding completely."

Meanwhile, several bus route roads are damaged and motorists are forced to take alternative routes to avoid mishap during the monsoon spells. A commuter of New Avadi Road fumed that it took over two years for the civic body to re-lay the damaged road. Within a few weeks, it got damaged, and the road started to get ripped off.

"We are scared to travel on this road. If people are new to this route, they should ride carefully. If not, there would be some accidents. The civic body should carry out patch work as a temporary solution, but they are least bothered about the public. Such issues will be addressed only if some mishap occurs in the city, " said G Vinitha, a commuter.

In response to those who are against the relief work carried out by the government, Health minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday said that the public does not speak against us. However, in some areas, people from the opposition or other parties have taken videos and posted on social media to create an issue and blame the government.

"The ongoing storm water drain construction in the city would prevent water logging even if the city receives 30 cm of rainfall in a single day. The videos circulating on social media have been criticizing works done by the state government, " added Subramanian.