Gulp it down: Chennai rainfall among highest in last 200 years!

As clouds continued to unload over Chennai on Saturday, the city crossed the 1,000-mm mark in terms of rainfall received this month.
Personnel from Fire and Rescue Services Department on duty at Mudichur in Tambaram on Saturday | Ashwin Prasath
Personnel from Fire and Rescue Services Department on duty at Mudichur in Tambaram on Saturday | Ashwin Prasath

CHENNAI: As clouds continued to unload over Chennai on Saturday, the city crossed the 1,000-mm mark in terms of rainfall received this month. This has happened only three times before in the last 200 years (see table). With three days to go before the month ends, another record could well be broken.

Senior corporation officials said considering the magnitude of the rains, the impact has largely been mitigated though several areas are waterlogged. But residents complained that many parts of the city, including parts of T Nagar such as Usman Road, are heavily inundated. The Narayana Puram lake in Velachery overflowed onto the roads, and the Semmenchery Lake engulfed the OMR.

Chandramouli, who works at a private firm in T Nagar, said he was asked to shift out of his hostel in KK Nagar due to waterlogging. “We are moving to relatives’ houses and taking along those who don’t have relatives in the city. Cabs and autos don’t come here, so we have to walk to catch a bus,” he said.

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In Velachery, residents of AGS Colony are surrounded by water three ft deep, and senior citizens are being shifted out, said M Sudha, joint secretary of the AGS Colony Residents Welfare Association. “Even in case of an emergency, we can’t step out because it’s not just rainwater, but sewage too. We can’t even sit in our living rooms because of the smell,” Sudha said. S Gunasekaran, another resident, said the single disposal point at Veerangal Odai is insufficient to drain out water.

The flooding has also impacted livelihoods. Sekaran K, a vendor at Marina Beach, said water has entered many stalls and damaged goods. “We already lost our business because of the rains, and can’t afford to have our goods damaged too,” he said.

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