Floodwater keeps Kovilambakkam residents in Chennai indoors

CHENNAI: Sankar’s children are restless. They have been stuck at home for the last three days and want a change of atmosphere. “Let’s go to the supermarket,” says his son who appears to be three-years-old. His six-year-old daughter, who had rubbished claims that there was no water stagnation in Kovilambakkam through a video that went viral on Facebook, is a little better at masking her boredom.
A distraught Sankar looks at his wife who is equally disturbed and makes a phone call.
The lorry driver doesn’t pick up. Without the ‘ferry’, venturing out is a no-go. The children know they would have to wait and their aversion to the rain is palpable.

Residents of Kakithapuram, parts of TNPL Colony and Engineers Avenue in Kovilambakkam have been dependent on the Kovilambakkam panchayat lorries to venture out since Tuesday.
An aerial view of the localities reveals there is no sight of the roads even after two days of considerably less rainfall. “The water is receding only by a few inches each day,” says Sankar who fears the next spell will set in even before the water from the first spell recedes.
In certain places, the water is up to one’s thighs and water snakes are the other deterrent which has kept people indoors.

One of the main reasons why the water has not been receding is the multiple encroachments on the canal, which is supposed to drain rainwater into the Narayanapuram lake along the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam radial road.

“No de-silting work was done and the encroachments on the canal were ignored even after multiple petitions after the floods of 2015,” said Senthil Gandhi, a resident.
A protest by a conglomeration of local associations in S Kolathur on Tuesday attracted the attention of the government. The PWD brought JCBs to remove the water hyacinths from the canal to facilitate the draining of water.

However, that did not stop the localities around it from flooding. With the 60-foot canal being reduced to 20 or even 10 feet in some areas, the canal began overflowing on Wednesday and was unable to drain water to the Narayanapuram lake.
Further down the Narayanapuram canal, where it empties into the lake, there is no flow of water from the localities. The outlet from the lake to Pallikaranai marshland is dysfunctional and the lake ends up flooding the Narayanapuram canal.

“There is a backflow now, which further hampers the draining of water,” said Sadiq Hussain, a resident of S Kolathur. “The lake comes under the PWD and the portion in between it and the Pallikaranai marshland comes under the Corporation while the localities affected come under the Kovilambakkam town panchayat. Jurisdiction confusion makes a comprehensive solution difficult,” he said.
With Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami visiting the area twice in the last four days, work is going on in full swing to ensure all excess water flows to the Narayanapuram lake which, in turn, will flow to the Pallikaranai marshland but locals are worried of “giant plans and proposals”. “There is talk about a plan of few hundred crores. The problem is that project will take at least 10 years. We can’t stand another nine monsoons like this,” said the residents.

While town panchayat officials were not available for comment, the Perungudi zonal officer, under whose jurisdiction the outlet canal from the Narayanapuram lake comes, told Express that short-term plans were also in the offing.
“We have sent proposals for underground culverts and will be using the cut-and-cover method where culverts will pass under roads and empty at the marshland near Kamakshi Hospital. Work will begin as soon as possible,” he said.

Local also allege that a weir on the northern division of the Narayanapuram lake to impound water is a mistake.“The lake was broken on the southern side to ensure draining of water, which shows the poor planning by the PWD by placing weir on the other side,” said Sajid Hussain.