Despite knowing that Velachery is flood-prone, the Chennai Corporation is only now executing stormwater drain work at 32 places, covering a distance of around six km, at a cost of ₹10 crore.
In ward 179, the areas where the work is in progress were among those that were severely affected during the floods in 2015 and 2016. The northeast monsoon set in on Thursday.
Macro channels linking the stormwater drain network from East Velachery have been draining into the Pallikarani marsh through an incomplete culvert located adjacent to the Velachery railway station, officials said.
Only by year-end
During the construction of macro channels and the stormwater drain network, several streets were left out because of issues including narrow stretches and lack of funds to finish the project, a senior official said.
After a gap of nearly three years, construction work on the stormwater drains in these 32 flood-prone places has been taken up but will be completed only by year-end, he added.
While the residents are happy that the civic body has finally initiated the work, the timing has come in for criticism.
Besides, the dug-up roads have put residents to hardship. V. Ganesh Subramaniam, a resident of Anna Nagar Extension, said the civic body could have carried out the work either before or after the monsoon.