Waterlogging, houses flooded in outskirts of Chennai due to heavy rains

Chennai:

Parts of north Chennai remained waterlogged for the second day as the city received six times the average rainfall on Wednesday.

Heavy to very heavy rains are very likely in the coming days over most areas of other northern districts including Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet and Vellore.

In Periyar Nagar, under Chief Minister MK Stalin’s Kolathur constituency, residents entered homes through knee-deep water.

Resident Bhagwati Vijaya complained that water entered their house and damaged their furniture. “It’s not just rainwater. It’s also mixed with sewage, it’s unhealthy,” he said as he passed through ankle-deep water at his home.

Being a low-lying area near a water body that has been encroached on over the years, residents say that it is common for rain water to enter their homes after heavy rains. “Now there is no natural place for the water to go, but it has been so for the last 40 years. We need a solution,” said a resident.

The water of the overflowing canal in Koratur has flowed into the houses. Indira, a tailor who lost her television and two-wheeler in the floods last year, is worried. “Last year the water entered our house to the waist. We had to take a loan to buy back the things we lost in the flood. The water is not that high yet, but what if it rises? How will we survive?” ,

Jaising says that his family had to take shelter with a relative as their house was flooded. “No elected leaders or officials have come here to see the situation, they are here when they want votes but no one is here to make arrangements to drain water from the houses,” he said.

In the last six months, the Greater Chennai Corporation has constructed 150 km long storm water drains at a cost of around Rs 700 crore.

While floods halted several hotspots in the city, including T Nagar and Sitamal Colony, several parts of the northern and southern parts of the state collapsed.

Responding to this, Chief Minister MK Stalin said, “The AIADMK government in its 10 years in power has ruined Chennai and Tamil Nadu. It will take many years to correct their mistakes. However, we are confident that we will do it one by one. Will be able to recover within a year and a half,” he said.

Officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation say they are also working on a 750-km-long stormwater drainage project worth Rs 3,000 crore, which, when completed, will be part of the Kosthalayar and Kovalam projects in the northern and southern parts of Chennai to address these issues. will fix it.

Parts of Chennai received 30 cm of rain on Wednesday. Top officials see such extreme weather events as a clear consequence of climate change. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, said, “The metropolitan cities, including Chennai, have definitely been affected by climate change. Heavy rains have been occurring in the past few days and this can be attributed to climate change over the years.” ,