The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Heavy rain leaves most city roads flooded

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Heavy rain leaves most city roads flooded

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, OCT. 17. Heavy rain for nearly four hours flooded most of the roads in the city and, quite predictably, all the underpasses. Traffic was thrown out of gear and life almost paralysed by a downpour that pounded the city and the suburbs incessantly from around 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Overnight rain had already flooded a few areas.

Some stretches of the Trichy Road resembled a tank near Singanallur. A little away, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board's colony was inundated. Corporation workers removed a large amount of debris and garbage from a canal that obstructed flow of rainwater and caused the flooding.

On Nanjundapuram Road, it was an overflow of residents' woes. Nethaji Nagar, which has always been a flood victim, went through a harrowing experience. The residents of this area alleged that construction work being carried out across the Nanjundapuram Road had obstructed draining of water and this resulted in the flooding of their colony.

"Water entered many houses," they said. The car park in the basement of an apartment complex along this road was also flooded.

Premises marooned

It was chaos on the Marudamalai Road this afternoon. The Lawley Road Junction was flooded as usual. But, that it was an unprecedented downpour today was revealed by the flood on the Marudamalai Road near the office of the Joint Director for Agriculture. The office premises was virtually marooned. Water flowing from the northern side of the road flooded a row of hutments on the other side. The staff quarters inside the Forest College on Cowley Brown Road was also flooded. Water entered the houses and people used vessels to drain out water.

Driving down Thadagam Road is already a nightmare. It was worsened by the rain today. Large potholes remained invisible as they were filled with rainwater and motorists were caught unawares. Some of the bylanes connecting Thadagam Road and R.S. Puram were also flooded. Even the Big Bazaar Street was unbelievably flooded near Town Hall. And that spoke of the amount of rain the city received in one long spell. Water was waist deep in a school along the road.

Vehicles waded through knee-deep water on Goods Shed Road and the normally problem-free 100 Feet Road was also not spared today. However, the rain sought to remind the authorities concerned that the potholes persisting on this road for a long time and a heavy downpour could take a heavy toll of lives.

Brief chaos

The underpass near the Kikani School was totally inaccessible. The water level was just a few feet below the rail overbridge. The underpasses below the Avanashi Road Flyover were no different. However, with Sunday being a holiday there was not much traffic on the roads.

Traffic jams on the Avanashi Road and North Coimbatore flyovers were cleared by traffic police after chaos for a brief while. Traffic was disrupted at the Lanka Corner underpass as vehicles had to wade through three feet of water. For some time vehicles moved at a snail's pace on Trichy Road.

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