107 places in Chennai have links missing in drain network

Chennai Corporation has created temporary arrangements for draining water from 107 locations with missing links in drain network owing to incomplete stormwater drain work. The civic body has also created barricades to prevent accidents at the construction site.

The launch of work on many of the stormwater drains were delayed because of major infrastructure projects across the city and rise in traffic congestion caused by traffic diversions along roads. The civic body has installed heavy duty pumps at the locations to prevent flooding as heavy rains are expected this week.

Missing links have been identified in 107 areas such as Kadumbadi Amman Koil street in ward 34, Pycrofts Road in ward 63, United India First Cross Street in ward 96, Valluvar Kottam High Road in ward 110, and Alagirisamy Street in ward 137.

Many stretches are reportedly prone to flooding because of small gaps in the drain network. For instance, along Devi Karumariamman Koil Street in ward 128 a missing link of gap 17 metres has reportedly increased the flood risk in the area. “We have installed pumps. We have erected flex boards and barricades,” said an official. 

Nungambakkam resident R.B. Saravanan said stormwater drain work along Nungambakkam High Road should have been completed ahead of the northeast monsoon by better coordination with the Traffic Police and other agencies such as Metrorail. “Residents in neighbourhoods in the vicinity of Metrorail works are worried because of the delay in completion of the work,” he said.

T.K. Shanmugham, president of the Federation of North Chennai Residents’ Welfare Associations, said residents’ associations visited various flood-prone areas to check whether the work has been completed.

“We found many drains have been successfully completed by GCC this year. Several canals by WRD have also been improved. However, a few have been delayed. We visited Kargil Nagar in Tiruvottiyur where flooding was more than six feet in the previous years, affecting 10,000 families. We found that work on shutter and pumping arrangements has been done. GCC has linked half an acre of waterbody with Buckingham Canal, for draining water into Kosasthalaiyar. But the work on the three-feet high wall along the Buckingham canal by the WRD has not been done. This may lead to flooding,” he said.

Residents have also demanded the three-feet dredging of Kodungaiyur Canal and Captain Cotton Canal. WRD has completed work of widening Thanikachalam Nagar Surplus Canal to carry surplus water from Kolathur Lake to prevent flooding in ward 30 and ward 31, officials said.