The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : In southern suburbs, residents are marooned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 08, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

In southern suburbs, residents are marooned

K. Manikandan and T. Madhavan

People spend sleepless nights as water enters homes

A boy sits in his deluged home on Murugesan Street, Pammal. — Photo: A. Muralitharan

K. Manikandan and

T. Madhavan

TAMBARAM: Thousands of residents of the southern suburbs spent a sleepless night on Sunday, guarding their homes from the gushing waters that threatened to engulf several localities here. Though the rain on Sunday (103.8 mm for 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday) was less compared to the previous day, it was enough to maroon several areas of Adambakkam, Hasthinapuram near Chromepet, Pammal and Anakaputhur. Official sources said the problems in the past two days were due to excess water flowing from the lakes. They said their priority now was to plug the breaches in some lakes.

The officials said some minor breaches in the Keelkattalai and Madipakkam lakes were immediately plugged.

The bunds of the Rajakilpakkam and Madambakkam lakes near Tambaram weakened due to the incessant rain and engineers of the Public Works Department are taking necessary steps.

Anna Street in Thiruvalluvar Nagar near Old Pallavaram was inundated due to flow of water from Tirusulam. P.V. Vaithilingam Salai was completely ripped of its blacktopping.

Residents of areas near Keelkattalai and Madipakkam lakes — Gandhi Nagar Main Road and Jayalakshmi Street — bore the brunt, as the overflowing water engulfed streets. Water from the sluices of Moovarasanpet Lake reached Medavakkam Main Road.

Knee-deep water

Residents of Sammandhanar Nagar and Nehru Street in Pammal had to wade through knee-deep water inside their houses. LIC Colony and Anna Nagar in Pammal were no better. Residents from Pozhichalur also complained of water entering their houses. About 75 houses in A.K. Nagar, Hasthinapuram, near Chromepet, were marooned. The residents charged that the problem was due to the construction of a commercial complex on a stormwater drain. Residents tried their best to prevent water from entering their houses by placing sandbags and dumping all they could. Women and children spent most of their day moving things to a higher level and scooping out water.

In some houses, sewage from the open drains mixed with the rainwater, causing an unbearable stench.

And most areas of Adambakkam in Alandur Municipality were flooded and residents fear it may take a week's time for the water to recede.

Occupants of the ground floor, mostly tenants, left their houses as water entered their portions. The eight-foot wide stormwater drain discharging rainwater into the Adambakkam lake from the Military Grounds and other places on the Western side of the Grand Southern Trunk Road was blocked.

Water entered houses in TNGO Colony, Lloyds Avenue, SBI Colony, Jeevan Nagar, Murugan Nagar, SIDCO Nagar Sanjay Gandhi Nagar and Thillai Ganga Nagar. Activists said stormwater drains should be constructed on West Karikalan Street. Encroachments on the stormwater drains preventing flow of water into the Adambakkam lake should be removed.

The Revenue Department will be giving Rs. 2,000, 10 kilograms of rice, a litre of kerosene and clothes to 4,555 flood-affected families.

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