CHENNAI: On Friday, the residents of Chitlapakkam woke up to huge waterlogged trenches filled with rainwater from the previous day. The heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday nights covered the pits dug for the cutand- cover drain project in several areas in Chitlapakkam town panchayat. With no place left for motorists or even pedestrians, residents urge the civic body to complete the project soon.
“In the first week of October 2018, we had seen Chitlapakkam panchayat workmen construct a cut-and-cover drain in private premises (a school and an apartment) near Thirumagal Nagar. They said they were going to construct a cut-and-cover drain from Vydyalingam Street to Sembakkam lake connecting Thirumagal Nagar, Chitlapakkam Main Road and GD Naidu Street,” said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident of Thirumagal Nagar Second Street.
The residents had opposed it be-cause Chitlapakkam panchayat had already floated tenders to construct stormwater drains by cutand- cover method, in seven localities at a cost of Rs 5 crore, and the Public Works Department (PWD) floated tenders at the cost of Rs 12.5 crore to construct drains in other streets including Babu Street which is only 200 metres away from Thirumagal Nagar.
The project undertaken by both the authorities was to connect an artificial pond in Sethunarayanan Street to Sembakkam lake. However, nine months down the line, neither has the town panchayat finished their work nor has the PWD. “The scheduled deadline is October 2019, and at this pace, it is impossible to finish the work on time.
The PWD completed construction of only 200 metres of 690 metres. Work must be completed before the onset of northeast monsoon so that we don’t stay thirsty for next summer. This summer was a nightmare and if the work is not completed, months of patience will go in vain. From dusty roads to sludge, we have been bearing everything,” rued P Viswanathan of the ChitlapakkamResidents Welfare Association.
Some of the areas that are majorly affected include Babu Street, Bharathi Street, Chokkanadhar Street, Sethunarayan Street and Thirumagal Nagar. R Vimala, another resident said, “If this is the situation after intermittent showers, we cannot imagine what would be our plight during monsoon if the work is not finished. Already, motorists and pedestrians falling into the trenches have become common.” When contacted, PWD officials said additional teams would be deployed to finish the work at the earliest.