The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : People in low-lying areas move out of homes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 10, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

People in low-lying areas move out of homes

Karthik Subramanian and R. Srikanth

Chennai Corporation coordinating with other government agencies to tackle problems "We do not have the courage to undergo another ordeal and the only option is to vacate the house."

Karthik Subramanian and

R. Srikanth

CHENNAI: People living in low-lying areas of city vacated their homes on Friday ahead of the heavy rains forecast for the next 24 hours.

Thousands of residents, who have suffered due to heavy inundation, power cuts and health concerns since the onset of monsoon in the last week of October, are not willing to take any chances this time around. They started moving out of their homes as dark clouds gathered over the skies in the afternoon. The evening bulletin of the Meteorological Department hastened their move.

Senior citizens and physically challenged persons were among the first to move out. Several residents of Ram Nagar South, Madipakkam, Ram Nagar North and Srinivasa Nagar in Puzhithivakkam began leaving their homes with their luggage. Chitra Lekha, a resident of Ram Nagar South that houses more than 1000 families, said during the previous rains water had stagnated inside her house to a height of three feet. "We do not have the courage to undergo another ordeal and the only option is to vacate the house."

A woman waiting at the Srinivasa Nagar bus stop said a number of residents in the colony had not returned since vacating their houses during the previous rains. The roads of Ram Nagar North, one of the biggest layouts in Puzhithivakkam with 11 streets, wore a deserted look by Friday evening. M. Pownraj, a resident of Ram Nagar 7th Cross Street, said most of the houses in Ram Nagar were locked. His neighbour vacated his house two days after the previous rains damaged home appliances.

The scene in the western parts of the city, including Virugambakkam and Valasaravakkam was no different. The region was heavily flooded in the previous rain spell, mainly because of excess storm water flow from Maduravoyal, Nerkundram and other upstream areas into the Virugambakkam canal.

During the dry spell in the past few days, the Government has taken up efforts to prevent water from upstream areas drain into Virugambakkam. Two culverts have been constructed to divert the flow of water into the Cooum River. But residents are in no mood to check the efficiency of the system.

Chennai Corporation issued a press release on Friday afternoon that it was coordinating with all government agencies, including the Police, Fire and Rescue services, Highways Department and Metrowater, to ensure that the city did not suffer during the rain.

The civic agency has said 143 of its schools will be kept open to accommodate residents from low-level areas.

It has also kept on standby its four kitchens and 29 community halls for preparing food for the evacuated people.

Ten mobile health clinics have been created to ensure that there are no water-borne diseases.

Help lines

In case of rain-related emergency, residents can contact Chennai Corporation on 25383783, 25381330 or 25384670. For electricity-related problems, contact TNEB on 28521300, 28521109 or 28524422. Metrowater's help lines are 28418436 and 28415312.

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