Kodungaiyur residents live in fear of flooding as canals turn dumpyard

CHENNAI: Residents of north Chennai, particularly in Kodungaiyur, fear flooding during this monsoon, as canals passing through the neighbourhood are filled with debris and plastic wastes.

According to residents, the ideal time to desilt the canals and clear the waste is now, the June-July period.

“Last year, Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin had visited the area during the Cyclone Fengal and assured relief, but the local body officials are lethargic and are yet to start the flood mitigation works,” fumed residents.

According to the Corporation data, Kodungaiyur, which is the 35th ward of the Greater Chennai Corporation, has 18,565 houses with a population of 82,000. Residents in the area, especially in Muthamil Nagar, South Avenue and North Avenue, have suffered inundation during the monsoon for several years.

Though the Kodungaiyur canal and Jawahar canal run through the ward, several streets and residential parts get inundated during every monsoon season, as the local body has not maintained the canals to keep them clean. It gets worse as hundreds of households directly release sewage into the canals.

“Many parts of the canals are infested with waste-dumping and illegal encroachments. Though the State government has taken steps to keep them clean, residents and the public use it as a dumping ground, which makes this area prone to flood,” opined Councillor S Jeevan, Ward 35.

As a part of flood mitigation efforts, Jeevan has been working along with the local body officials to place nets along the canals to avoid the mouth from choking with plastic wastes and debris. “Further, walls of the canals will be heightened to prevent the outflow into the streets. This should prevent flooding this year,” he added.

Despite such efforts by the local body and people representatives, encroachments and pollution have been rampant and going unchecked for several years in the neighbourhood.

Several illegal buildings have mushroomed along the Kodungaiyur canal at Tondiarpet High Road. Even after the Madras High Court ordered evictions, encroachments have continued. What’s worse is that many of these illegal constructions, including residential buildings, release their sewage water directly into the canal.

Deputy Mayor M Magesh Kumaar told the DT Next, “Officials have been instructed to take actions against those illegally discharging drainage into canals and storm water drainage. The flood mitigation works, which will kickstart at the end of this month, will be completed before the onset of monsoon.”

On the Jawahar canal too, more than 100 illegal constructions have been set up on both sides of the GNT Road. This blocks the natural flow of flood water. “The regional deputy commissioner, north, has already issued notice to all the building owners to vacate the place,” GCC officials said. However, the eviction process is going on at a snail phase, lamented residents.

Social activist Jai Ganesh accused the GCC of being lackadaisical in its efforts in monitoring the area for encroachments and waste dumping. “Canals have to be desilted, and clean of plastic and other wastes as a part of the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon works,” he opined. “Officials are portraying that flood mitigation works are being undertaken but nothing is properly done, including the desilting works.”

Each year, monitoring officers from the cadre of District Collector are appointed for each zone to mitigate floods. Ganesh pointed out: “How can it be that no officer has submitted a single report on the ways to control inundation?”