It’s that time of the year again. The rains are upon us, and Chennai experienced a downpour on Wednesday, preceded by heavy rains on Tuesday, which brought several parts of the city to a standstill. Per the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in Chennai and its neighbouring districts over the next few days, specifically, December 2 and 3. The RMC mentioned that delta and coastal districts were also likely to receive a downpour in the upcoming days. An orange alert has been issued for the metropolis and its adjoining districts too.
Social media was abuzz with updates on the ground situation, which for all practical purposes, looked grey. Waterlogging was reported in several stretches, including Tambaram, Chromepet, Perungalathur, Perumbakkam, Perungudi, Sholinganallur, as well as Ayapakkam, Ambattur, Chitlapakkam, Anna Nagar, Thirumangalam and parts of GST Road. A pressing question was regarding how efficiently the stormwater drains of the city did their job?
A few days ago, reports had drawn attention to the plight of the stormwater drains along the 200-feet radial road, which were strewn with garbage of all kind, including discarded plastic bags, bottles, food waste and other refuse that eventually end up in the Pallikaranai marshland. A point of concern was the state of the Rs 225 cr drain connecting Pallavaram Periya Eri to the marshland, where the work is progressing at a snail’s pace.
It was just this week that the Greater Chennai Corporation said that it has completed work in 48 locations across various zones in the city where there were gaps in the stormwater drain networks. This was done with the objective to mitigate the impact of the northeastern monsoon. Early on in October, Commissioner J Radhakrishnan had assured citizens that stormwater drain work was proceeding in full swing and that close to 90% of the work had been done in Chennai’s core areas.
However it might be recalled that by May this year, tenders for stormwater drain works had been cancelled thrice. These were big ticket allocations as the drain work was said to be worth Rs 250 cr and the road works Rs 100 cr. Stakeholders had warned even back then that it would be next to impossible to have the drains ready before the onset of the monsoon. Just look at the numbers, and you’d know why this is a gargantuan task — we are dealing with 35,000 roads, that total up to 5,800 km in length, that need to be supported by 11,000 stormwater drains.
On the plus side, over the past two and a half years, several encroachments adjoining river banks in the city have been removed by the Corporation. Extensive restoration activities, aided by groups like WRD and the Chennai River Restoration Trust are also ongoing. Right now, as many as 120 water tanks in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts have water to their full capacity, thanks to the significant quantum of rain the regions experienced. However, we must remember that 200 cubic feet (cft) of excess water was released from Chembarambakkam lake this week, and a flood alert was sounded for low lying areas. The next few days are going to be the acid test for the city’s stormwater drains, and a reminder of where all the taxpayer money went.