CHENNAI: Hundreds of residents at Pallikaranai are forced to put up with nearly waist-deep water as the Narayanapuram lake overflows due to the incessant rain. This is the third time in a fortnight that this has happened, but it looks like no lessons have been learnt.
“Residents of Kamakodi Nagar faced the flood and there was little help available to them. Volunteers from the area took turns to cross the street and reach the main road to buy food,” said Shanthi, a resident of Rajesh Nagar in Pallikaranai. “The area has more than 8,000 people who reside in 2,000 houses,” she said, adding that hundreds of people who left the area on Tuesday morning haven’t returned. “With mobile networks not working properly, there was no update on where these people are stranded,” she said.
Residents alleged that it was the encroachments along the canal that carries excess water from the Narayanapuram lake that caused the inundation. Rajendran, another resident from the area, said they were waiting for boats to rescue them on Wednesday morning.