CHENNAI: Although water levels are receding, residents in some parts of Mangadu were forced to wade through knee-deep water for a fifth day on Wednesday even as the city is enjoying a break from the rain.
Mangadu is geographically low-lying, collecting runoff from Malayambakkam and Poonamallee areas and it is proving to be a challenge to the municipality officials to keep it free from waterlogging. As an erstwhile town panchayat that was only recently upgraded to a municipality, its drains are small with not enough carrying capacity to accommodate the flow from upstream.
“This year, new stormwater drains were built but failed to bring relief. Now, water is being manually pumped out. We have tried all avenues for a possible solution but nothing has worked,” said CS Kulothungan, a resident of Om Sakthi Nagar 3rd Main Road.
Residents of Om Sakthi Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar and Chakra Nagar had to wade through hip-deep water in the second spell of rains, which has now reduced to about 1.5-feet deep stagnant water in the locality. Two pumps are being used to drain out water.
Recently, `6.6 crore was sanctioned for construction of drains for three km, of which work on 2.2 km is complete, said municipality officials. Municipality officials said they are focused on draining out the water and as a permanent solution, the government is planning to rope in hydrology experts to analyse the situation and the geography to come up with a solution.
“The situation has improved when compared to the previous years where there would be stagnant water for even a month in some areas, but there is still work to be done to completely get rid of waterlogging,” said an official.