Incomplete lake bridge traps 20,000 islanders in Pulicat
CHENNAI: The 20-year-long wait of 20,000 inhabitants of Pasiyavaram Island in Pulicat for safe mobility during monsoon seems to have been extended as the state highways department is yet to complete the bridge work over Pulicat lake waters.
The work for the bridge connecting the island and the Chennai-Pulicat road, which started in 2020, was expected to be completed in 2022. While the concrete structure of the bridge was completed in January 2023, finishing work on both ends of the bridge has not been completed yet, putting the islanders at harm’s way this monsoon season as well.
The island has five villages, Sathankuppam, Edamani, Edamani Colony, Rahmat Nagar and Pasiyavaram, falling under two panchayats. The island has two primary schools, a temple and roads, but no hospital.
The water level in the lake starts rising in November as the place receives good rainfall and flood waters from the Arani River too start gushing into the lake. A thin strip of temporary road, used by the islanders for their daily commute to reach Pulicat town for all their needs, invariably gets submerged as the monsoon rain peaks. The inhabitants get stranded for several days.
“In 2021, we were cut off from the mainland for two weeks. There was no electricity,” said Durai Mahendran, state president, the Tamil Nadu fishermen association and resident of Sathankuppam. “There were instances in the past when a pregnant woman and schoolchildren died after boats capsized while attempting to cross the lake in floodwater during the monsoon,” he said.
Second death in a month due to waterlogging
“The matter will be investigated and action will be taken,” the commissioner said. This is the second death at the Lanka Corner junction due to waterlogging in the last one month. On October 16, P Selvaraj (55), who worked as a system manager at the district supply office at Coimbatore district Collectorate, died of electrocution in the underpass after a live wire allegedly came into contact with the water.
The railway underpass is a tri-junction and connects Tiruchy Road, State Bank Road, and Big Bazaar Street. It is located near the north bund of Valankulam and is a low-lying area. The underpass gets flooded whenever it rains in the city, sources said.