Chennai pockets continue to be under water for second day

In north Chennai, stretches of major roads like Perambur Barracks Road, Dr Ambedkar College Road, Stephenson Salai, Paper Mills Road, Madhavaram Red Hills Road and Thana Street remained waterlogged. This slowed down traffic and several two-wheeler riders had to push their bikes through sheets of water after their vehicles stopped.

Rainwater also entered a few houses in low lying localities in Kolathur, Madhavaram, Perambur and Pattalam. “Despite the corporation constructing stormwater drains on both sides of 70 Feet Road, rainwater continued to stagnate as the road height was shorter than Paper Mills Road,” said Sundararajan, a resident of Jawahar Nagar at Kolathur. Palani, who runs a salon at Periyar Nagar, said that he had never seen such water stagnations at the locality where he is residing for several decades. “Rainwater has entered several homes. A few people left to take shelter with friends and relatives elsewhere,” he said.

Flooding on Perambur Barracks Road, Dr Ambedkar Salai and Stepheson Salai has led to suspension of MTC bus services in those routes causing severe hardship to the public. At Vadaperumbakkam, surplus water released from Red Hills reservoir inundated the low lying areas and also Madhavaram Red Hills Road, affecting movement of vehicles. Kargil Nagar located close to the Buckingham Canal near Tiruvottiyur also reported inundation. As has been the case in the past few years, several localities in Madipakkam, including Ram Nagar, Pallikaranai, and Adambakkam also suffered from inundation with water entering homes. T Nagar, that is being upgraded into a Smart City, remains one of the most flooded parts of the city.

The continuous rainfall has forced PWD to continue releasing water from all major reservoirs as a precautionary measure. Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan who visited Chembarambakkam Lake said the discharge has been increased to 2,000 cusecs from 1,000 cusecs. “Our intention is to make sure there is no damage,” he added. The government has appointed four senior IAS officers and 12 cops as nodal officers to oversee flood relief work in and around the city and neighbouring districts.