The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Squatters stick it out despite flooding

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Squatters stick it out despite flooding

T. Madhavan

Local body officials say pumping out of water only after rains stop

ROUTINE AFFAIR: Residents of Ambedkar Nagar in Porur being ferried to the main town by boats. — PHOTO: A. Muralitharan

CHENNAI: Squatters on the Porur lakebed are again facing a problem this monsoon.

Although their houses and hutments now stand in three feet of water, most of the residents have refused to move to safer places or even take the food packets offered by relief personnel.

The rains stopped two days back but flooding is a problem in several suburbs, including Porur and Madipakkam.

The `streets' on the lakebed are under waist deep water, but many residents have decided to stay put. Of the families in more than 1000-odd hutments under two to three feet of water, till Monday only about 75 families had left for safer places, says a resident.

The hutment area in the lake is called Ambedkar Nagar and the residents now reach the main town using boats provided by the Porur Town Panchayat and Tiruvallur district administration. This has become a routine for them now.

Police vigil has been intensified to prevent people from breaching the lake bunds, an official from Porur Town Panchayat said.

The official added that the panchayat had arranged for meals for those inundated in a government school nearby, but to their surprise only a handful of them came to the centre.

L. Krishnan, a resident of Mugalivakkam village, recalled that overflowing water from Porur Lake inundated BHEL Nagar, Santhosh Nagar, Amman Nagar and Annai Velanganni Nagar areas last year. He wanted the district administration to remove the encroachments inside the lake permanently. Last year the district administration removed some encroachments but the work stopped after a while.

In another suburb, Madipakkam, residents of Bank of Baroda Colony say they are facing severe health hazards due to the flooding. A resident claimed that there was no response from the panchayat officials despite repeated requests to pump out the water.

More than 50 families with children and grandparents have to wade through the stinking water of between one and two feet in different parts. Autorickshaws and school bus drivers refuse to ply their vehicles in the area, says a resident.

The local body officials has told the residents to wait for the rains to stop before any measures to pump out the water could be taken up.

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