Residents fret and fume as several areas remain waterlogged in Chennai

“Usually, during moderate rains, the water would enter the houses. But this time the situation is much worse. Sewage mixed rainwater has flooded the entire area. Mosquito breeding has increased and other insects also swarm our households in the evening. For the past three to four days, the street is inundated. We have asked permission from the local body to drain the water using motor pumps but in vain. They have not even visited the place and bothered to drain the dirty water,” said Nedumaran SP, a resident of Gnanamoorthy Nagar, Ambattur.

Locals complain that the works on stormwater drains are not complete. “The works were going on at a slow pace even before the monsoon. If the construction works had got finished before the rains, the locality wouldn’t have been inundated,” said another resident. Meanwhile, the situation at Pallikarani is pathetic as the water from the marshland has gone up and have flooded the nearby houses. The residents said the entire streets are blocked, and the roads are submerged. Also, fishes and snakes can be found in the rainwater.

Even the waterlogging at T Nagar remains the same since the rains first lashed the city three days ago. Residents claim that they are struggling without power and water. “Even though the rainfall has decreased from last night, the water has not got drained from the street and houses. Because of blockages in the sewage system, the water is getting reverted. It has been three days and still, there is no power. And the water we have stored is also over. So we are clueless on how to survive in the coming days. We have requested the electricity officials to provide power for a day so that we can pump and store water, but they said it will be possible only after the water recedes,” said Rajan K, a resident of T Nagar.