Storm-water drains play spoilsport in areas that remained flooded on Wednesday, despite lull in rains

City areas face flooding due to inadequate stormwater drain maintenance, hindering water flow during monsoon rains.

Some areas in the city continued to be under sheets of water even though rainfall relented on Wednesday.

Parts of Korattur like North Avenue and TNHB Colony were waterlogged and boats were deployed in some parts to rescue residents from inundated areas on Wednesday. This led residents to wonder if the stormwater drain (SWD) networks had been laid as promised with proper linkages in place. They also questioned whether the drains had been desilted properly before the monsoons, in order to ensure free flow of water during the rains.

S.Sekaran, secretary, Korattur Aeri Pathukappu Iyakkam, noted that reverse flow in the SWD had led to flooding in the area. The SWD should be designed according to the topography of the region and the surplus channel must also be widened to ensure smooth flow of floodwater.

In Vyasarpadi, Perambur and Choolai that were heavily inundated on Wednesday, residents pointed out that it had become a yearly occurrence. “The inundation has always been there. The wastes in the stormwater drain near Jeeva Subway were cleared only on Wednesday,” said Prabhu Kumar, a resident of Vyasarpadi.

In some places, including Purasawalkam, desilting of SWD could not be carried out completely due to various infrastructure projects, including Chennai Metro Rail work.

Members of Federation of Anna Nagar Residents’ Associations noted that there were missing gaps in the SWD network in Anna Nagar and lack of desilting of the SWD had shown its impact with blocks in the network and water spilling over onto the roads.

In several areas of west Velachery covering AGS Colony, Netaji Nagar, Saraswathi Nagar and Nehru Nagar, residents experienced flooding despite the GCC installing a heavy-duty motor to pump water into the Veerangal Odai. Areas were affected as a temporary canal that would be excavated every year through a compound wall of a private vacant site was closed this time.