The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Monsoon havoc: Will it be déjà vu for city residents?

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Friday, Oct 27, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Monsoon havoc: Will it be déjà vu for city residents?

City Bureau

Inundated colonies, battered roads... memories flood minds of citizens

CHENNAI : Flooded colonies, battered roads and a truncated public transport system... Chennai's civic woes this monsoon are no different from last year's.

In the October-December period in 2005, the metropolis reeled under flooding as rain poured almost on all days. All lakes filled up and some of them broke their bunds, damaging houses, vegetation and roads nearby.

If the downpour in the last two days is any indication, the city is yet to gear up for this year's inundation. Even the National Highways roads in and around the city saw traffic jams owing to water stagnation on Wednesday night.

Predictably, the worst flood-hit areas were parts of West Velachery and nearby suburban colonies of Ullagaram Puzhudhivakkam and Madipakkam.

Srinivasa Nagar and Ram Nagar in Ullagaram-Puzhudhivakkam municipality, AGS Colony, Murugu Nagar in West Velachery and Ram Nagar and Kubera Nagar in Madipakkam were some of the places where people had to remain indoors on Thursday.

Manoj Joy, a resident of Srinivasa Nagar, said a bund was raised recently on the western side of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) railway track.

Mr. Joy said that normally after a heavy rain, water used to recede slowly from our area and used to join the Pallikaranai marsh. But this time around, the construction of a bund had adversely affected the flow of water from his colony. He said that after the residents had complained to authorities of Public Works Department, the latter made a small opening in the bund after which the water started receding slowly. Similarly, a resident in Murugu Nagar in West Velachery said when they learnt about the construction of a bund, they felt happy thinking that this time water stagnation would be averted in their locality. But, on Thursday she opened the door and was shocked to see three feet of water outside.

For residents of the localities in Western Velachery such as AGS Staff Colony, the incessant downpour and flooding brought back memories of the monsoon last year when rafts were used for rescuing those stranded in flood.

On Wednesday, the rainfall made life miserable for those returning home from work. In AGS Staff Colony, many residents were angry over the alleged inaction of the authorities in warding off a repeat of last year's rain-related woes.

Wondering if the situation had become a regular feature during good monsoon, a shopkeeper in the area said that ironically repair and relaying of several interior roads in AGS Staff Colony damaged last year were only taken up a couple of weeks ago. The local officials of Chennai Corporation, he said, had told the residents that the roadwork would be completed only by March. Adding to their woes, the only bus service (9-M) to the localities, they complained, has been stopping short of its scheduled final destination on the 4th Main Road of AGS Staff Colony for some days now.

This makes the residents, including several senior citizens, trudge their way.

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