SWD: An incomplete mess

CHENNAI: While denizens of Namma Chennai can shrug off water stagnation even when they’re waist-deep in it, the onset of the northeast monsoon within the next 3 months does cast a shadow.

During the southwest monsoon last year, several areas in the city received 16 cm of rainfall. There were puddles everywhere with sewers overflowing and mixing with rainwater, stinking up entire neighbourhoods for weeks.

Since then, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has been working earnestly on building and interlinking the storm water drains (SWD). Additional works on the existing drains in many parts of the city including Kolathur, Pulianthope, George Town, and Ernavoor, have also been going on for the past several months.

However, residents are worried over the pace of work and express doubts on whether it will be completed before the monsoon season begins.

Not yet interlinked

The civic body has not yet completed the SWD works, as the entire system has not been interlinked. This has made the pits a breeding ground for mosquitoes in many places.

Unless the interlinking work is completed, the SWD will not do its job during the rainy seasons. The newly constructed drains in George Town, Walajabad Road, and Pulianthope last year, where the interlinking was not carried out, resulted in water-logging on main roads and interior streets.

“The interlinking of drains would definitely prevent water stagnation. There’s only 2-3 months left for the monsoon season to begin in Tamil Nadu. Works on the newly-proposed SWDs could be stopped, the interlinking work must be prioritised,” suggested D Neelakannan, a civic activist. “The GCC’s failure in completing the interlinking process in several areas led to water-logging last year even after a mild spell. So, now, the interlinking must be done immediately after the construction work is completed.”

The SWD construction commenced before the northeast monsoon last year. Residents of Ernavoor had hoped that it would help prevent water-logging in the neighbourhood. However, even for mild showers, there was water stagnation, which took several days to drain.

“The irregularities of the construction work led to stagnation of drainage water and increase in mosquito menace. This was evident especially in areas where the work had stopped for a few months, and then later resumed for linking the drains to the water bodies,” said Ramesh (name changed), a resident of Erneeshwaran Nagar at Ernavoor. “It has been more than 6 months. The local body is yet to complete the SWD works by linking to the lake.”

Last year’s rainfall was not intense in the city but still, there was water stagnation in several neighbourhoods. Though the corporation pumped out the stagnated water, it took many days for the situation to return back to normal.

Residents urged the Corporation to complete the work before the monsoon begins this year. “Instead of trying to build new SWDs and that too within a shorter duration, the civic body can start the work as soon as the northeast monsoon withdraws from the State,” opined Neelakannan. “It can hand over the contract for construction work to a particular company for the sake of continuity instead of splitting it between different contractors for bus route roads and interior roads.”

Poor-quality material

Residents complain that the chamber cover of SWDs has not been built with good quality materials as the covers were damaged within a few months. Though multiple complaints were raised, authorities take a long time to address them.

“The chamber cover of the drains has broken more than four times in the area. This is a safety hazard. The civic body must use good quality materials while building these things or during replacement, especially considering the large amount of money they have invested in this project. They should use standardised materials while building them and also while replacing them,” stated M Balakrishnan, general secretary of Tansi Nagar Residents Welfare Association, Velachery.

Furthermore, the SWD manhole cover in Perambur has been in bad shape. When residents and civic activists enquired about the replacement work, the local body stated that due to a lack of funds, the work has been delayed.

Date of completion

The existing SWDs are 2,500 km long of which 800 km were laid last year. The construction work in the core is almost over, and the long-term project that began recently in some areas of Adyar and Kovalam Basin has been going as per schedule.

The civic body has identified missing links and allotted Rs 232 crore in 42 packages so that contractors can work parallelly and complete before the northeast monsoon begins.

“The SWD construction work began in Alandur, Perungudi and Shollinganalur zones recently. This is a two-year project,” said Mayor R Priya.

In 2022, works were carried out on priority in north Chennai areas like Kolathur, Pulianthope, and others. This prevented water stagnation. “However, there was water-logging in a few places. We’ve identified these areas and we will take up additional work there. The work will be completed before September 15,” added the Mayor.

The desilting of silt-catch pit began in the city this month at an estimated cost of Rs 70 crore. The conservancy workers were instructed to ensure that the waste does not block the SWDs.