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Chennai fights waterlogging again as ‘govt fails to take action’
With the incessant rains in the city since Saturday night, several areas and roads in the city witnessed inundation and flooding, on Sunday.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Roads, especially interior ones, in prominent areas like Egmore, T Nagar and Kodambakkam had knee-deep water, posing challenges to motorists. Water entered houses in areas like Vepery and T Nagar.
Heavily flooded roads include EVR Periyar Road, Pantheon Road, Vepery High Road, Sterling Road and EVK Sampath Salai.
The Ripon Building, headquarters of the Chennai Corporation, was also completely flooded.
Several streets in Baba Nagar, Senthil Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar, Rangathas Colony, Poompuhar Nagar and GKM Colony in the Kolathur area are under water.
Residents complained that they have been facing heavy waterlogging every monsoon but the Corporation failed to take any measures.
Rainwater mixed with sewage and entered houses on several streets. The power supply was also cut off in many areas.
K Saravanan, a resident of Baba Nagar, said," For the second successive year, streets and houses have been flooded. I was forced to take refuge in my relative house.”
Dinesh Babu, a resident of Rangathas Colony, took to Twitter to air his grievance. “Will there be anyone to look after the CM’s constituency? No response from helpline numbers,” he tweeted.
An owner of a hardware shop on Vivekananda Nagar Main Road said that even after the construction of the stormwater drain and increasing the height of the road, inundation continues. “We hope that the Corporation will find a way to resolve it by next monsoon,” he said.
As per Corporation data, severe waterlogging was reported in 181 locations as of 4 pm and 36 trees fell on roads. While all the fallen trees were removed, the civic body could restore normalcy in only six locations by removing stagnant water. "Measures have been taken to clear the rainwater and remove trees from streets. Residents are also being moved from low-lying areas to relief centres," an official said.
Meanwhile, the control room at the Ripon Building received 154 rain-related complaints on Sunday. The civic body has opened 44 relief centres across the city. As many as 51,951 food packets were distributed to residents in flooded areas.
Power cut off in inundated areas to avoid electrocution
Residents of several parts of the city are facing a double whammy as the Tangedco cut power on inundated streets. Nungambakkam recorded over 20 cm of rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Sunday, which is the highest since 2015. Though power supply was restored in many localities after the water receded, other areas are still in the dark. Areas like T Nagar, West Mambalam, parts of Nungambakkam, Anna Nagar, Purasaiwalkam, Pulianthope, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Tondiarpet, Korukkupet and Kodungaiyur witnessed power cut for over 12 hours. A senior Tangedco official said power supply was disrupted in the localities with heavy waterlogging as a precautionary measure to avoid electrocution. “As and when the water level goes down, we will restore power supply,” the official said.
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