Incessant rains stop, but life thrown out of gear

Though the incessant rains in the city ceased on Thursday morning, the vulnerable localities like Velachery, Pazhavanthangal, Madipakkam, Puzhuthivakkam and others are still submerged in rainwater, affecting the normal life of the residents.

Among the affected areas, Ram Nagar in Velachery is worst affected with houses inundated. While the residents of other vulnerable areas are wading through rainwater, residents of Ram Nagar are struggling with sewage mixed with rainwater.

When DT Next visited the spot on Thursday, residents were seen wading through knee-deep sewage water mixed with rainwater.

“The major issue in the locality is sewage water. Rainwater is a secondary issue. For the last two days, we could not sleep as water entered our house but authorities are looking the other way,” said Firoz, a resident of Ram Nagar.

Speaking to reporters, Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said Velachery falls under the Kovalam basin. “A project to construct stormwater drains in Kovalam basin is undertaken. Tenders will be floated soon to construct drains in Velachery. As we already completed 95 per cent work in Cooum and Adyar basin, no waterlogging was reported from core city areas,” he added.

The situation was similar in Madipakkam as the clogs in the stormwater drain resulted in waterlogging in almost the entire Sadasivam Nagar. Despite Madipakkam lake situated in the close vicinity, the stormwater drains could not carry rainwater.

“The entry chutes are clogged. Waterlogging occurs in the area every year. We have tried to remove silt from the chutes. But the water recedes at a slow pace,” Anand, a resident said.

V Damodaran, another resident of Madipakkam was seen removing rainwater that entered his house. “We’ve moved to the first floor. Unless the water from the streets recedes, we cannot clean the ground floor,” he said.

Similarly, waterlogging posed health threats to the residents in Kannan Colony near Alandur, RK Salai in KK Nagar, Pulianthope and others. As per the Chennai Corporation data, waterlogging was reported in 58 localities in the city and the rainwater was removed from around 40 areas.

Meanwhile, as many as 387 trees were also reported to be uprooted in the past two days, affecting traffic movement.