CHENNAI: Indira Nagar in Adyar is one of the few localities in Chennai, which has a good amount of quality groundwater. But, it seems like that won’t be the case anymore.
Here too, like most other parts of the city, unscientifically built stormwater drains (SWD) are the reason behind groundwater contamination. Located within a distance of 500 metres at Indira Nagar Second Avenue are two SWDs — while one is completely dry, another one overflows flooding the streets after just 40 minutes of rain. Residents allege that either the SWDs are not connected or there is a major block.
Severely affected by this are the residents of the service lane as it is a low lying area. “We have had rainwater draining mechanisms in place since 1973 and the problems began only after new SWDs were built in 2013-14.
"Whenever it rains, the water bubbles up near the drain after about 10 minutes and the whole street gets flooded after an hour. The three blocks on the lowest level of the road have water stagnated upto three feet, each time it rains,” said R Gandhimathy, a resident of the area.
During the last week’s rains, all the residents could do was pray that the rainwater doesn’t enter their homes. The December 2015 floods were a nightmare, recall the residents.
“It had been just a year since the new drains were built, so we believed that nothing could happen. However, since the drains are not connected, on the first day it poured heavily, we had water upto five feet and had to vacate the place till the rains subsided. Everything was under water,” said an agitated 28-year-old Parvathy Krishnan.
Cause for blocks
The residents say the blocks in the drain could be because of the waste disposed directly into the SWDs by eateries, fruit shop vendors, auto drivers and other miscreants.
“Everybody finds it convenient to open the lid of the drain and pour the trash directly into it. Auto drivers, after eating the food, throw the plastic boxes and other waste directly into the drains,” said another resident of the area.
Also, they say cab drivers park their vehicles in the night and consume alcohol. They later dispose the bottles in the drain.
Rising water levels
In August, 2018, the Corporation officials desilted the drain upto five feet and removed all the sludge. “After that there were no rains for a few months, but when we opened the drain, we found the water level increased. We don’t know the source of that water,” said Rajeshwari P, another resident.
Also, the water in the drain is stagnant and not flowing, so the residents are scared it could flood, even if there is no rain, in some days if the source is not found.
When contacted, an official from the Corporation said he would look into the issue in the coming week.
No respite
In August, 2018, the Corporation officials desilted the drain upto five feet and removed all the sludge. Despite no rains, the water level increased in the drain within three months.