CHENNAI: With a brief respite from the rain on Thursday, the city corporation is working hard to clear up waterlogging in parts of Pulianthope and Kolathur, where some streets were inundated on Monday and Tuesday. The civic body also used pumps to drain water off General Collins Road, Choolai.
Having received around 35 cm of rain as of Wednesday, around twice the rainfall the area received last year, corporation officials were having a hard time discharging water from Thiru vi ka Nagar into the disposal points using pumps due to high tide. In Pattalam, which was among the worst affected areas this time, the disposal point is at Gandhi Canal which in turn leads to Otteri Nullah. “Since the rains subsided on Thursday, we have been able to drain water from most streets of Pattalam and Pulianthope from Wednesday night,” said a corporation official.
Manigandan, a resident of Pattalam, said the heavily inundated Siva Rao Street cleared up on Thursday. However, officials are still trying to clear up water stagnation in three locations in Kolathur, although the main roads in the locality have been cleared. “We are using pumps in these three interior lanes. Water will be cleared by Thursday night,” said a corporation official.
Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru held a second review meeting on flood prevention activities at Ripon Building on Thursday and inspected waterlogging-prone areas. He said waterlogged areas in Kolathur and Pulianthope were areas that were not mentioned in the Thirupugal Committee Report. “Officials are looking at permanent solutions to drain water in these areas without using pumps.
Work is going to be taken up to divert water from Otteri Nullah to help water drain faster. Around 90% of water stagnation in these areas has been cleared,” the minister said. Along with the health department, the corporation will hold medical camps in 200 locations on November 5. After 2 pm on Thursday, Vanagaram recorded 6.36 cm of rain while TVK Nagar recorded 5.91 cm, Tondiarpet 4.74 cm, Anna Nagar 4.74 cm, Ambattur 4.35 cm, Kolathur 4.23 mm, Tiruvottiyur 3.27 cm and Manali 3.39 cm.
Holiday for schools, colleges
Following heavy rains, a holiday was declared for schools and colleges in Chennai on Friday.