CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin inspected the areas of Manali and Tiruvottiyur that were inundated after the water release from the Poondi reservoir and interacted with the residents on Saturday. Around 400 residents from the low-lying areas along the Kosasthalaiyar river, including Gandhi Nagar, Mahalakshmi Nagar, and RL Nagar, were evacuated and accommodated in two relief camps.
J Indrani, a resident of Kavithendral Kalyanasundaram street in Manali, said, “Water from last week’s rains has not yet been drained. There was waist-deep water in the area. The officials began draining out the water only after we registered two separate complaints via 1913. Since water from nearby 13 localities passes through our street, it is always flooded. At times, snakes and other reptiles are washed into our houses.”
Chief Minister M K Stalin, along with Ministers KN Nehru, and PK Sekar Babu, and Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi, visited the residents of waterlogged areas, including Vadivudai Amman Nagar and Mahalakshmi Nagar, on Saturday morning. Stalin also visited the residents, who were temporarily lodged at a relief camp at Vivekananda High school.
Corporation officials told TNIE that the water level inside the residential areas will recede by Saturday night and until then all the necessary arrangements have been made at the relief centres to provide the affected people with food and shelter.
“We have set up relief camps at the Jaigopal Garodia Govt Higher Secondary School at Manali New Town and the Vivekananda High School. At present, there are around 400 residents at those camps. A few have gone to their relatives’ houses elsewhere in the city,” said a corporation official.