Velachery flood mitigation works to be expedited after Minister’s inspection

CHENNAI: Bringing hope to more than 10,000 families in Velachery that face severe flooding every monsoon, Minister for AI, IT and Digital Services, and Velachery MLA Kumar, on Saturday (August 1), inspected the Water Resources Department's (WRD) Macro Canal and the six-vent culvert on Perungudi Railway Station Road.

The inspection, carried out along with Greater Chennai Corporation Regional Deputy Commissioner (South) Aftab Rasool and IIT Madras professor Balaji Narasimhan, followed repeated representations from the TANSI Nagar Welfare Association seeking measures to address chronic drainage bottlenecks.

According to residents, the Macro Canal, constructed nearly 30 years ago, was designed to carry excess runoff from Velachery Lake through 100 Feet Road, Vijayanagar Junction and SRP Tools Junction before discharging into the Buckingham Canal. However, rainwater from an area spanning nearly 10 km, including Velachery, Taramani and Dhandeeswarar Nagar, converges into an eight-foot-wide canal and a single culvert, resulting in severe backflow during the monsoon.

Residents lamented the problem had worsened over the past five years after untreated sewage began flowing into the canal, obstructing the natural flow of rainwater and causing floodwaters to overflow onto Taramani Link Road and inundate homes in TANSI Nagar. Following discussions with Prof Narasimhan at the site, Kumar directed officials to immediately remove an obstructing pipeline and lower the bund height of a pond created by the GCC two years ago, which residents said was impeding the natural flow of water.

“The Minister also told them to install a regulatory gate near the pond and the six-vent culvert, and also expedite the desilting of the Macro Cana. During heavy rainfall, the gate can be opened to divert excess runoff and reduce flooding,” said M Balakrishnan, general secretary, TANSI Nagar Welfare Association.

Officials of the Highways department said that estimates for the desilting work had been prepared and that physical work would begin soon.

Residents expressed hope that the long-pending interventions would significantly reduce flooding in the area ahead of the northeast monsoon.