Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Efforts on to stop flooding

Special Correspondent

COIMBATORE: Mayor `Colony' R. Venkatachalam said on Tuesday that elaborate plans to prevent flooding were afoot and these would be executed soon so that the city was not paralysed during heavy rain.

Mr. Venkatachalam said Commissioner P. Muthuveeran and the other officials were working out various measures since 5 a.m. after taking stock of the situation in the flooded areas. Remedial measures would be taken soon to ensure people are not inconvenienced, he said.

Mayor R. Venkatachalam's litmus test began in the wee hours of Tuesday in his `colony' itself. Heavy waterlogging in Saibaba Colony gave the Mayor a taste of what the monsoon could inflict on the entire city, given the condition of roads and storm water drains.

By virtue of being a resident of this area for decades, the Mayor had the tag `Colony' preceding his name. Only on Monday did the Mayor take a close look at the clogged drains in his Ward 63, as a first step towards assessing this problem that has not spared most of the areas in the city.

In just a day hence, he had to wade through water in Sathya Nagar along with Corporation Commissioner P. Muthuveeran and other officials of the civic body to take stock of the situation unfolding across the city.

"The affected areas in Saibaba Colony had been suffering clogged drains and the resultant flooding for 25 years. There are many other areas in the city going through a similar plight. We will come up with something that will provide a permanent solution," he said.

The Mayor said trouble began at 2.15 a.m. at Sathya Nagar in Saibaba Colony. "More than 250 houses were one foot to two feet in water. While the tiled houses in low-lying areas had two feet water inside, it was one foot in houses with concrete roof," the Mayor said.

"There was no way for the water to flow out of the colony. A fresh spell of rain after 3 a.m. led to the flooding of another 100 houses. We requested the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board to stop power supply as the lines had been snapped by falling trees in some areas elsewhere in the city."

Admitting that rain damage was immense even after just an overnight heavy spell, the Mayor regretted that people had to spend a sleepless night because of flooding.

Rainwater had entered their drinking water sumps.

After Corporation lorries pumped water out, drinking water was supplied in tankers to the affected residents, he said.

"Vegetable waste from the market (on Mettupalayam Road) had clogged the drainage canal.

"At one point, it was too narrow to facilitate smooth and quick draining of rainwater. Earth movers were brought to remove the blocks and widen the canal," Mr. Venkatachalam said.

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