CHENNAI: Traffic on the city’s roads was the first casualty of the first spell of Northeast monsoon rains, which caught many parents by surprise on their way to drop children to school on Monday morning.
“The waterlogging caused a traffic jam which extended for over one km. Parents began carrying their children to nearby schools after abandoning their vehicles,” said C Abilash, a resident of Velachery.
The rains, coupled with the Thevar Jayanthi celebrations at Nandanam on Anna Salai, resulted in heavy traffic snarls in many parts of the city till afternoon. Scenes of motorists caught on the road amidst a heavy downpour and traffic cops in raincoats standing amidst the stagnant water to regulate the vehicles were a common sight on many of the city roads.
The brieff and sharp spells of rains resulted in knee-deep water-logging in many parts of the city, especially the low-lying areas such as Velachery. The water-logging slowed down the traffic on several arterial roads such as the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the GST Road.
“The stretch between Chromepet and Pallavaram was flooded and caused a traffic build-up,” said T Alex, an airport employee, who commutes from Tambaram every day. A commute which usually takes Alex 30 minutes took twice that time on Monday. “The traffic blocks were mainly because of autorickshaws getting stuck in the water,” said Abilash, a Velachery resident.
However, the rains didn’t seem to dampen the celebrations of the people who thronged the Muthuramalinga Thevar statue at Nandanam to pay respects on his birth anniversary. Long lines of people waiting to garland the statue, bursting crackers on the road and arrival of politicians across parties further slowed down traffic at Nandanam signal.
For some commuters, the journey from Adambakkam to Egmore took almost two hours due to the heavy downpour and traffic obstructions. However, the train services were not affected majorly. Officials claimed the only delay was caused by a signal disruption along the Tambaram-Chengalpattu line.
“There were heavy rains along the stretch which caused the disruption but it was set right in a matter of 10 minutes,” said an official from the Southern Railway. Flight services also functioned smoothly despite the rains and there were no unusual delays because of the rain.
IAS officers for every zone
The Corporation has appointed an IAS officer for each of the 15 zones to exclusively oversee monsoon response work. The civic body has around 450 pumps to bale out water from low-lying areas. Ambulances and rescue units are on standby to ensure continued safety of residents. “We are coordinating across government departments to ensure people in low-lying areas are brought to safety if their houses are flooded,” said an official in the monsoon response team. “Our response teams are being dispatched promptly,” said an official in the control room.
Reservoirs benefit from rain
The Poondi reservoir received 13 mm rainfall and storage was recorded at 300 mcft. The Cholavaram reservoir saw 12 mm of rain and storage touched 91 mcft.
Redhills and Chembarabakkam got 35 mm and 6 mm of rainfall respectively, and storage capacities stood at 348 and 308 mcft respectively.