CHENNAI: With Ennore recording nearly 15 cm of rainfall in nine hours ending 5.30 pm on Wednesday, several areas have been inundated with rainwater entering the houses. Some other parts of North Chennai including Mullai Nagar in Vyasarpadi, Perambur, Kumaran Nagar in Redhills, and a few other parts of the city continued to face water inundation due to the rains since Monday.
Residents of Ennore, especially those from Ward 1 — VOC Nagar, Sathyavani Muthu Nagar, Ulaganathapuram, Kamaraj Nagar and surrounding areas — told TNIE that water entered around 60 houses from the afternoon following incessant showers. When they attempted to reach the GCC relief centre at Kathivakkam Government High School, they found it locked; it was opened only later in the evening, they said.
Senbagum I (59) of Sathyavani Muthu Nagar said that despite the area having stormwater drains, water kept entering homes. “Even sewage drains are overflowing. No pumps have been arranged to clear stagnant water, no food is being distributed, and power has been cut. We are not able to step out of our houses. All three streets in Sathyavani Muthu Nagar are facing the same situation,” she said, adding that the locality usually does not face such flooding. Karima A (39) of VOC Nagar said water had entered homes up to 1.5 ft or above, damaging appliances including washing machines and refrigerators.
Another resident questioned the lack of swift relief despite three days of heavy rain in Ennore. In Perambur, Venkatraman Street, Bharathi Road, Subramanian Street, Patel Road, Nelvayal Lane, Rajeswari Street and Ramakrishnan Street were flooded with sewage, said Raghukumar Choodamani of the Perambur Neighborhood Development Forum, calling the situation “horrible”. Kumaran Nagar in Red Hills saw knee-deep water with fire and rescue services personnel using boats to rescue residents. Stagnation that began Tuesday worsened on Wednesday, sources said.
In Mullai Nagar, Vyasarpadi, where stagnant water had been almost cleared using at least three heavy duty pumps each earlier on Wednesday, the situation turned to severe inundation again with 2-3 feet of waterlogging later in the day after rains resumed in the afternoon. The pumps were being operated continuously as of 7 pm on Wednesday to drain the area. Pumps were also deployed at Pattalam, where waterlogging was relatively minimal. All 22 subways remained open after Ganesapuram subway was cleared. In T Nagar, Habibullah Road, Dr Nair Road and Pushpa Nagar Main Road in Nungambakkam saw waterlogging, though stagnation began receding by evening. GCC said 6.25 lakh food packets had been distributed since Monday and 103 medical camps were conducted on Wednesday.