Incessant downpour leaves Chennai besieged

An average of 127.53mm rain by Wednesday morning and continuous downpour thereafter left the city battered and besieged.
Three people died in rain-related incidents in different parts of the city since Tuesday night while one death was reported in Sholavaram in Tiruvallur. At Kamarajar Salai, an unidentified elderly man was crushed to death after a tree fell on him.At Koyambedu, a 26-year-old guest worker, Shah Bhaj, a native of Bihar, was electrocuted when he tried to repair a leak in the steel roof of his accommodation. At Pulianthope, a 75-year-old drunk drowned in water stagnated inside his residence.
Residents in areas like Velachery, Adambakkam, Kilpauk, Mandaveli, Perambur, T Nagar, West Mambalam, Prakasam Street, Purasaiwalkam and Royapuram shared photos of waterlogging.
In the morning corporation officials shared images of zero inundation in most of the subways. However, Ganesapuram subway (rail under bridge) in Royapumram was submerged under about two feet water with motorists and even MTC buses struggling to wade through. At Nanganallur, water entered compounds of several houses on 44th Street, said Rama Rao, a local activist. At Velachery, the canal near the MRTS station was filled to the brim and there was waterlogging on roads. Water entered homes of residents in Ram Nagar.
Fearing a rerun of the floodlike situation in 2015, a number of residents parked their cars on Velachery flyover, one after the other. Corporation officials who visited homes cut a sorry figure and told residents that drains were running full.
R Rizwan, a resident of Venkatesa Bhaktan Street in Perambur Barracks Road complained that the situation had not changed since 2004 as roads were filled with water and housed inundated. Residents in Kilpauk off Poonamalee High Road also had similar complaints. One of them pointed out that garbage was blocking drains.
While local MLAs took stock of the situation, the corporation said all major canals which are outlets of storm water drains were running full. Due to a high tide, the rate of draining out of water from roads would be low, officials said. Corporation drains have a capacity of 36mm an hour and that it would take time for the water to drain off, the officials said. According to official data, as of Wednesday morning, 53 areas were identified as having stagnated water, of which eight had been cleared in the morning and the rest later in the day. Pumps have been installed in low-lying areas and subways, officials said.
Power supply has been suspended in several areas as a precautionary measure. In some areas, tree falling led to power disruptions and electricity board workers co-ordinated with other government agencies to restore power.
“In our area, power went off around 3am and was restored only by 9am. A tree had fallen on an electric line,” said M Patel, of Puzhuthivakkam. Power supply was suspended for a few hours in T Nagar, K K Nagar, Tambaram, Velachery, Madipakkam, Nanganallur, Thiruvanmiyur areas in south Chennai and in Washermenpet, Royapuram, Pulianthope in north Chennai. In Semmenchery, there was no power from noon, said a resident.
A senior Tangedco official told TOI, “After ascertaining waterlogging, feeders are being switched off one by one.”