CHENNAI: Residents complained of water stagnation on the playground located opposite Natesan Park on Venkatanarayana Road in T Nagar during the rain. The park is managed by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC).

“The soil in the ground is so hard that water does not percolate down. As it is an open area, if rainwater harvesting is done, the nearby residential colonies will not have a water shortage,’’ said T Jayaraman of the T Nagar Residents Welfare Association.

Residents said children and youngsters are not able to play on the ground for days due to water stagnation.

The ground has a basketball track, and the other area is muddy. People who conduct tournaments there dump the sand used to smoothen the surface there, which prevents water from entering the ground.

“It takes a few days for the water to go inside the ground, as the soil is very hard. This ground is used by children from nearby areas for playing games. It would be really useful for the denizens if the corporation took initiatives to solve the issue through rainwater recharge systems,” said Sooryan Basheer, a local resident. The residents urged for a rain harvesting system so that water could be used by the residents in the nearby houses. When ward member K Elumalai was contacted by DT Next, he assured to look into the issue the following day itself.