Heavy rains lash Puducherry, Rainbow Nagar flooded again

The ground floors of several houses in Rainbow Nagar and adjoining areas such as Chellan Nagar and Ezhil Nagar were inundated with water early on Tuesday following heavy rains; residents say flooding has become a perennial problem but the government is yet to take action on it

Rainwater entered several houses in Rainbow Nagar and adjoining places in Puducherry, following heavy rain in the wee hours of Tuesday.

The ground floor of these houses, mainly on the first, fourth, seventh and ninth streets in Rainbow Nagar, remained flooded until well into Tuesday morning. Rainwater also entered the ground floor of a few houses in Chellan Nagar, Sooriyakanthi Nagar and Ezhil Nagar. 

Since inundation has become a perennial problem in these localities during the rains, residents here stayed awake to move their belongings to safer places when it started to pour. 

“It started to rain around 1 a.m and it continued till early morning. We started moving our household items to the first floor and other places, as the intensity of the rain increased. We are now used to the situation during the rains and we are prepared,” said R. Vinoth, a resident of Fourth Cross in Rainbow Nagar. 

Another resident, Govindarajan, said elderly people avoid sleeping when it starts raining. “Now, our household items do not get damaged due to the flooding as we move them before rainwater enters. But when the water recedes from the houses, the area gets filled with silt. There is no end to the flooding problems,” he said. 

Jayakrishnan, a resident of Ninth Cross in Rainbow Nagar said subsequent governments have given assurances to the residents to implement measures to avoid flooding . “All the governments have failed to find a solution to the flooding problem. We are hearing about special flood mitigation measures and schemes under the Smart City Mission. But we have not seen anything implemented. People continue to suffer,” he added.