MADURAI: With unprecedented rain lashing Madurai for the past few days, several areas, particularly the eastern and northern parts of the district, witnessed heavy waterlogging on Friday, forcing many to stay inside houses in knee-deep water.
According to the meteorological department, Madurai recorded 1,041.6 mm of rainfall within 24 hours from 6 am on Friday to 6 am on Saturday (an average of 47.34 mm of rainfall). Areas such as Madurai North, Tallakulam, Periyapatti, Chittampatti, Kallandhiri and Idayapatti received heavy rainfall of over 50 mm, as of 6 am on Saturday. Of this, the Chittampatti area recorded 108.4 mm of rainfall.
According to sources, after the Panagadi kanmoi and Naganamkulam kanmoi overflowed on Friday night, water entered the houses in Sellur and Aathikulam areas. Low-lying areas, including Athikulam, BB Kulam, Mullai Nagar, Kadachanenthal, LBT Nagar, Tamukkam, Tallakulam, Goripalayam, and Simakkal, were waterlogged with knee-deep water, and power supply was also interrupted in most regions.
Speaking to TNIE, Karthick (34) of Aathikulam Vallavan street said water began entering their locality within two hours following the downpour, around 5 pm on Friday.
"Though I managed to shift my wife and children to my cousin's house on time, most of our electronic goods got damaged. Minister P Moorthy, Collector MS Sangeetha, and Corporation Commissioner C Dinesh Kumar visited our region, but we are yet to receive any assistance," he said.
T Sundar (55) of Kattaboomban Nagar in Sellur, whose house got submerged in waist-level water on Friday night, told TNIE that there have been a lot of encroachments in Panthalkudi kanmoi channels.
"A survey was conducted for desilting the Panthalkudi kanmoi three years back, but no action was taken. If proper desilting works were carried out, then rainwater would not have flooded houses in the locality," he said, and also pointed out the difficulty in accessing essentials, including food items.
Alleging that she received no concrete response despite contacting the call centre of the district administration's disaster management wing, SS Kavitha of Sridevi Nagar in Omachikulam said, "After water level began rising in the area, the residents jointly arranged a JCB and dug up a trench near a vacant land to drain the stagnant water. Subsequently, the VAO and his assistant came to the spot and extended support. The timely act somehow prevented rainwater from entering the houses of our street."
Speaking to TNIE, a top official from Tangedco said that as many as four electric poles were damaged in Sellur due to strong winds on Friday, leading to power disruptions for over four hours.
"However, an emergency team was deployed to handle the situation. Further, power was restored in all the interior parts of Madurai city on Friday night itself," the official added.
It may be noted that power supply was halted for a few hours by local Tangedco officials in many waterlogged locations, such as BB kolum, Tallakulam, Thirupalai, Chockikulam, Oomachikulam, Alagarkoil Road, Melur Road, Arasaradi and areas near Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai city, in order to avoid any electrocution incidents.
'Everyone should take responsibility to maintain waterbodies'
Speaking to TNIE, PRADAN Programme Coordinator J Kanagavalli said that there are over 140 tanks, ponds and temple tanks in the Madurai Corporation limit along with 45 km of inflow and outflow channels (waterways) interconnecting them and acting like flood moderators.
"Authorities should create awareness among the citizens on how to maintain these water bodies and waterways. Most of the waterbodies in Madurai are encroached and converted into building sites. In the district, 30% of the slums are located on the banks of waterbodies. Discarding waste in these waterbodies and waterways automatically affect their functioning. Maintaining and managing these water bodies is not just the duty of authorities. Everyone should take responsibility to clean and protect the waterbodies in order to prevent natural calamities," she said, and urged corporates to adopt and maintain waterbodies using CSR funds.
Efforts on war footing to regain normalcy, say ministers
Ministers P Moorthy, PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan, KN Nehru, District Collector MS Sangeetha, Corporation Commissioner C Dinesh Kumar and district monitoring officer Dr A Arun Thamburaj inspected rain-hit areas along the Vaigai banks in Goripalayam, Kulamangalam road, Sellur kanmoi channels on Saturday.
Addressing media persons, Minister P Moorthy said that the revenue department, PWD, TNEB, and corporation officials have been working on a war footing to bring the district back to normalcy.
"On Friday, dinner was distributed to around 1,000 people, and 70 people are staying in two temporary shelter homes in the city. Basic facilities including food, milk, drinking water and toilets are being provided to them. Necessary actions are under progress," he said.
Stating that officials concerned has been informed to deepen the Panthalkudi kanmoi, Minister KN Nehru said that at present, the corporation has begun constructing alternative channels, and the works will be completed by Sunday morning. As per Chief Minister MK Stalin's instruction, Collector MS Sangeetha has been asked to send a proposal for preparatory measures for the north-east monsoon.
Minister PTR Palanivel Thiagarajan said that the district usually receives northwest monsoon rains in October and November. However, this year, the rain started early in August itself. Flooding occurred as most of the kanmois in the rural areas started overflowing, and water entered houses located near the banks of the Vaigai River, he added.
Collector MS Sangeetha, Corporation Commissioner C Dinesh Kumar and Disaster Management Tahsildar Sivabalance were unavailable for comments.