The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : Residents given a rough ride by rain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Residents given a rough ride by rain

By S. Sundar

MADURAI, OCT.13. With the city roads being either dusty or slushy, the residents do not have a third choice. Even as the recent showers have come as `manna,' after two years of scanty rainfall, Maduraiites have already started cursing the Rain God for "crippling their mobility."

At a time when the residents have started learning to live with potholes on the roads, least to speak of the inordinate delay in patching up the roads dug up for constructing underground drainage systems, the showers have made them frown while treading on the roads, thanks to water-logging.

Not only the rain, but also water-logging has become a great leveller, as one can see it in any part of the city. The road junction in front of the Periyar bus stand, Simmakkal, West Veli Street and East Chithirai Street are a few examples of the city getting inundated even after a few minutes of rain.

This results in the people wading through knee-deep water. Motorists have to tackle not only potholes but also boulders, which have been placed on the potholes by nearby shopkeepers and residents, as a warning sign.

Pedestrians have to carefully take each step to escape from going down into the drainage channels through such unattended "openings."

The ups and downs on the Dhalavai Street, main approach road from the Vakkil New Street to the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, range up to one foot.

"With the motorable portion having been narrowed down to a few feet at many important stretches, the anxious motorists want to ride only on those patches standing out of the stagnating water. They have the risk of having a head-on collision," a traffic policeman said.

The bus drivers coming out of the Arapalayam bus stand have to work hard to cross the DD Road. Either side of the entire stretch of the AA Road at Gnanavolivupuram, New Jail Road, Arasaradi junction and the bylanes of the Chithirai and Masi Streets is an eye sore.

"The Corporation has neither a plan to desilt stormwater channels and keep the roads ready before the onset of the monsoon nor it swings into action to drain off stagnating water immediately," a councillor said.

He recalled the Collector's advice to the Corporation to check flooding of roads while reviewing preventive steps for the monsoon.

"It was only lack of forethought on the part of Corporation officials did the Periyar bus stand and the Arapalayam sub-way get submerged during an overnight heavy rain last year," he said.

The waterlogged East Chithirai Street near the Amman Sannathi did not attract the notice of the officials till noon.

"Will they act at least today, as the Navarathri festival begins at the Meenakshi Temple from tomorrow?," a shopkeeper quipped.

Similar has been the case at the Arapalayam-Gnanavolivupuram road junction, where kneedeep water has slowed down traffic till noon. "After my attempts to drain the water went in vain, I left it at that," said an auto-driver from the nearby stand.

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