CHENNAI: Several areas in Chennai witnessed water logging for hours while suburbs faced inundation on Tuesday with non-stop rains, as Cyclone Nivar is expected to intensify over the next several hours. Motorists and pedestrians at areas such as Egmore, Parrys, Kilpauk, Otteri and north Chennai, including Tondiarpet and Thiruvottriyur, faced severe difficulty as rain water remained stagnated for hours. However, Corporation officials made immediate attempts to clear the water.
Residents lamented that due to clogged drainages, the stagnated rain water was mixed with sewage too in areas such as RK Nagar and Korukuppet. While the civic body officials were on the ground clearing clogged drainages and storm water drains in the city, residents of Chennai suburbs such as Chitlapakkam, Perumbakkam, Medavakkam and lake-surrounding area as in Pallavaram faced moderate to severe inundation.
Activists in the suburbs blamed the civic administrations for improper engineering of storm water drains and non-removal of encroachments. Sunil Jayaram, member of Chitlapakkam Rising NGO, said the surplus water from the Selaiyur lake does not enter the cut-and-cover storm water drain and overflows to the nearby residential localities.
“The PWD and Panchayat built the SWD spending crores of money but it doesn’t serve the purpose. Either the mouth of the SWD must be blocked by thrash or it is not wide enough to carry water,” he said. As a result of this, close to 10 streets were inundated in the Chitlapakkam area. Dayanand Krishnan, a Chitlapakkam resident, said, “Several lakes in Southern suburbs including Selaiyur, Rajakilpakkam and Sembakkam have sewage in it and is unable to hold rain water.
After the cut and cover project, a buffer pond was created to hold water before it connects to the Selaiyur surplus canal. However, this buffer pond is left open on the Eastern end without a bund and causes reverse flooding from the cut and cover project in several streets.” Several areas in the Perumbakkam town panchayat too were inundated after water breached through the encroachments along the Perumbakkam lake, said local residents. Many encroached houses along the Pallavaram Periay Eri too were at risk on Tuesday. Civic activist David Manohar said if it rains further, the houses alongside the Pallavaram lake would be at severe risk.
City receives over 100 mm of rainfall
Chennai on Tuesday received over 100 mm of rainfall which led to waterlogging in many parts of the city. Nungambakkam weather station recorded 106.5 mm of rainfall. Meenambakkam station has clocked 78 mm of rainfall. IMD has issued red alert in 7 districts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Extremely heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Perambalur & Mayiladuthurai districts of TN and Puducherry. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Trichy, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur and Thanjavur.INCOIS officials issued a high wave and swell wave warnings for north and south Tamil Nadu.