RA Puram residents rue flooded streets

Officials from Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) say that rainfall is expected to continue over the next few days in many parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai.  Meanwhile, residents of many parts of the city have been facing a monumental challenge due to inundated main roads from the recent rains. Ganga Sridhar, a resident of RA Puram, said that key areas – such as the bus depot and the RK Mutt Road – are flooded. 

“When we approached the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to desilt the storm water drains in our locality, the work was taken up immediately. As a result, the interior roads were not flooded. However, the RK Mutt Road, which provides an entry to Velayudham Street, has been blocked. There is water logging near the Mandaveli bus depot,” added the software professional. 

In areas like Madhuvankarai and Pursaiwalkam High Road, motorists had to tackle flooded roads to reach their destinations. “Madhuvankarai is a nightmare during the rains, because drainage water floods one part of the road and vehicles have to use the remaining area. 

This creates a huge traffic problem. If these rains can cause so much waterlogging, we wonder how it will be during the monsoon season,” said Ravi R, a city-based marketing professional, who uses this route regularly. The Corporation has begun desilting work in various parts of the city, before the onset of the North-east monsoon. 

A Rs 13 crore contract for manual desilting of 1,137 km of stormwater drains has been awarded and work is underway, said official sources.