CHENNAI: People of Athipattu Pudunagar have started packing their bags and moving to safer places as the village is marooned in knee-deep water. The monsoon is yet to arrive, but the entire village is flooded, thanks to some mindless industrial constructions in Ennore creek, it is alleged.
Pudunagar, which is home to over 3,000 families, is flooded after scant pre-monsoon showers. With non-motorable roads, some of the tail-end houses in the village have become uninhabitable with slushy and sticky red soil underneath. The locality has now become a breeding ground for deadly mosquitoes and a few residents have already fallen sick. Many more are suffering from viral fevers.
When Express visited Pudunagar, which is surrounded by big industrial establishments, on Tuesday afternoon, the emotions were palpable. Saying goodbye to their village, 38-year-old Sudhakar, his wife Padma and two daughters Bhavani and Abhinaya rue they are being forced to abandon the village as it has become difficult to live.
“For a week, we have been facing trouble with the stagnated water. So far, no official has come to our rescue. We cannot take our vehicles out. Children can’t go to school wading through stinky and slippery water. There is no life in this village,” an emotional Sudhakar said.
Sithalakshmi (65), who has been residing in the village for the past 25 years, wonders as to what would happen when the north-east monsoon arrives. “All we need is a good road and a channel for the rain water to drain.” The village lacks basic amenities like a primary health centre and a school. The villagers have to travel all the way to Ennore or Kattupalli in case of an emergency. However, there is a railway station abutting the village, which gives them shelter when monsoon peaks and the situation gets worse, says Geethayyamma, whose petty shop got damaged in last year’s cyclone ‘Vardah’.
Several houses in the village still bear the marks of 2015 December floods and Vardah storm. As Express traversed inside the village, 40-year-old Usha showed her ravaged house and said she is still awaiting compensation that was promised post Vardah.
Locals say Pudunagar will be the first village to turn into a water body when the monsoon arrives, since it is located in a low-lying area. In fact, Pudunagar is a relocated colony as their original lands were acquired for an industrial unit about 25 years back. Another resident Valarmathi says every year they get displaced, losing their belongings and regroup. “I lost my ration card in the 2013 rains and it took three years for me to get the smart card. Those three years were hell as I was unable to draw my rightful rations.”
Pooja Kumar, member of Coastal Resource Centre, said NTECL Vallur had built a coal-fired thermal power plant and an ash pond inside Kosasthalaiyar river’s backwaters, blocking off drainage to the south.
HPCL and BPCL too have constructed oil terminals inside the creek, blocking the eastern and northern drainage for the village. Now, a huge compound wall is being built by the oil companies in the middle of Kosasthalaiyar floodplains, which further blocks natural drainage.
Besides Pudunagar, Athipattu, Vallur, Minjur, Pattamandiri, Nandiambakkam, Poochettypattu, Melur, Kondakarai, Vellivoyalchavadi, Naapalayam, Edayanchavadi, Kolakkarai, Andarkuppam, Kadapakkam, Manali New Town, Kosappur, Senthiambakkam, Thiyambakkam, Ariyalur, Kanniammanpettai and Vilangattupakkam all face the risk of flooding due to the rampant industrial encroachments, said noted environmentalist Nityanand Jayaraman.