Chennai: Residents across the city woke up to waterlogged streets after Chennai recorded an average rainfall of 70mm on Wednesday. Many areas saw ankle-deep stagnant water, with the flooding disrupting traffic during peak hours.Rains started lashing the city from Tuesday night and continued till Wednesday morning. Localities such as Saidapet (125 mm), Vadapalani (132 mm), and Alandur (119 mm) received very heavy rain (115 mm to 204 mm). Vehicular movement was affected by the waterlogging on OMR near the IGP bus stand, the 200 Feet Radial Road, Arcot Road in Porur and near Panagal Park in T Nagar.At AGS Colony and Kalki Nagar in Velachery, stagnant water of more than 3ft was drained into the Veerangal channel. Aziz Nagar Main Road in Kodambakkam remained flooded until noon. Baskar B of Kodambakkam said the area frequently faced flooding and was dependent on pumps. “If motors and pumps are used, the water can be drained in about two hours. But if it keeps raining, the situation may get out of control,” he said. More than 40,000 people across the city were provided food.Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has kept boats and community kitchens ready for relief, along with pumps and sumps to tackle the waterlogging. Of the 500 tractor-mounted pumps kept on standby across the city, Adyar zone has the most at 60, while Madhavaram, Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Kodambakkam and Perungudi have more than 40 each, GCC commissioner G S Sameeran said. In addition, 80HP to 100HP pumps have been stationed in vulnerable areas across 151 wards, including Adyar, Valasaravakkam, Alandur, Sholinganallur, Tondiarpet and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zones.Mayor R Priya told TOI that desilting work had started late this year. “It should have begun in July, but they started in Sept. Only Phase I of desilting has been completed. By the time they could take up Phase II, the rain had started,” she said. She questioned if drains could handle the load without getting clogged during extreme and continuous rainfall.Meanwhile, the rain exposed the inadequate drainage infrastructure in Avadi and neighbouring northern suburbs on Wednesday. Potholes submerged under rainwater, muddy approach roads and ankle-deep water outside homes marked a difficult morning for residents across the region.Several neighbourhoods in the northern suburbs, including Thirumullaivoyal Main Road, Gopalapuram, Mittanamalli, Kovilpathagai and TNHB Colony, reported severe waterlogging. Residents said roads leading to seven suburban railway stations within Avadi corporation limits, including Avadi, Pattabiram, Annanur and Hindu College, were difficult to access, affecting at least 50,000 daily commuters, particularly office-goers and college students.Avadi became a corporation in 2021, yet several neighbourhoods continue to face the same drainage problems every monsoon. “Many roads in key areas within the corporation limits are damaged. The corporation should have installed high-capacity motor pumps, similar to those used by GCC, to drain water quickly,” said T Sadagopan, president, Tamil Nadu Progressive Consumer Welfare Association.Residents complained of patchy drain work on Pattabiram’s Nehru Street in Gandhinagar, causing water to flow downhill without an adequate inlet. Officials said that before the monsoon, the corporation had undertaken desilting across four waterbodies covering 32.57 acres ahead of the monsoon, completing work across 22.7 acres; this has reduced flooding in areas such as Kamaraj Nagar, Parthipattu and other interior areas under the corporation limits.Avadi corporation officials said no major complaints had been reported on flooding, and necessary action had been taken to clear waterlogging with heavy pump motors in corporation limits.
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