CHENNAI: As the Northeast monsoon slowly intensified over Tamil Nadu, the capital city witnessed incessant rains throughout Tuesday. Barring a few places, the city streets largely remained free from inundation. Water stagnation was not reported at any of the 16 corporation subways or six highways, said sources from the civic body.
The corporation has deployed an IAS officer and 10 additional staff to supervise the monsoon situation in each zone, in addition to nearly 23,000 workers on the ground to tackle any exigency. Machines to drain out water have also been readied at Five Furlong Road in Guindy, where severe inundation was reported during the previous monsoon.
The corporation has laid stormwater drains for about 876.19 km in the previous two and a half years. According to their data, missing stormwater drain links in the core city, have come down to less than 1,000 metres spread over some 10 locations. However, minor instances of water logging and sewage mixing with rainwater were reported in some core parts of the city and extended areas on Tuesday.
Following the continuous rain, water began to drain on the right side of the Velachery road near Guindy, while a puddle began to form on the left side. Water logging was also witnessed at Ekkatuthangal junction near Olympia Tech Park. Poor roads in the Sidco Industrial Estate in Guindy also added to the woes of the commuters and pedestrians. “In the absence of good roads, water gets stagnated for a longer period of time and the entire area becomes sludgy,” said Allen R, a resident of Ekkatuthangal.
Commuters also took to social media to flag issues of water stagnation in areas like Parrys. In response to queries raised on social media, the corporation deployed workers to several areas and cleared the water stagnation using motor pumps. At Central Avenue road in Korattur, stagnant rainwater mixed with overflowing sewage, while the Menambedu road in Ambattur Industrial Estate also got inundated.
“We anticipate some issues in low-lying areas. Pumps have already been arranged and we are coordinating with the metro board to tackle sewage overflow,” Corporation Commissioner J Radhakrishnan said.