CHENNAI: It has been two weeks since the floods but the residents of Majestic colony in Valasaravakkam still have to battle inundation on their streets and also in their homes.
“The water level just isn’t coming down. What’s worse, it smells,” said an agitated Kamala, standing in her house that is still knee-deep in water mixed with sewage. The entire colony, which is home to over 100 families, and the adjoining streets have been flooded since the downpour began about two weeks ago.
“It was worse at that time. But when you look at other areas where everything has been cleared, we feel let down as all our pleas are falling on deaf ears,” said L Lakshmi, another resident of the colony.
“They (Corporation officials) told me that they cannot come when we wanted. They did not understand the seriousness of the situation,” claimed Gunasekaran, an IT employee.
Apart from water woes, residents have been complaining about reptiles entering their houses. “Yesterday, a seven-foot snake entered my neighbour’s house, but luckily my husband spotted it. This was the second such incident this week. This morning, she left the city with her family to her mother’s place,” said Lakshmi.
Two days ago, corporation officials came to the area and dug a path at the end of the street to allow water to flow out. They also inserted pipes in some apartments where the ground floor area is flooded. While they have completely cleared a few houses of water, there are still many residents waiting for their premises to be cleared.
“It’s been a nightmare. I’m not sure when our turn will come, and we can’t even leave the city as schools have reopened. I really hope they make it quick,” said Manikandan Kumar, a resident of Majestic colony.
The streets of Virugambakkam too continue to be flooded. “An apartment here was flooded. It’s still that way, but better now. We really hope something is done about this,” said Arjun Gowtham, a resident.