Fear of monsoon floods looms large in Trichy

TRICHY: When even a moderate rain is enough to inundate several roads in Trichy city, one dreads to think what the northeast monsoon that accounts for 48% of the city’s annual rainfall can do. Improper design of existing stormwater drains and absence of them at many places are said to be the root causes of this problem. While the civic body is keen on promoting rainwater harvesting mechanism in households, it often ignores the importance of draining surplus rainwater into freshwater canals.
The 8.7-km Uyyakondan canal passing through the city drains surplus rainwater from the Cantonment locality through a stormwater drain network. However, the stormwater drains in 2 square km radius of the Cantonment locality are in bad condition and rainwater inundates the arterial roads including the Royal Road and Reynolds Road. A retired senior official with the Public Works Department (PWD) said that the stormwater carriers of Trichy City Corporation are not in a shape to collect the surplus rainwater from Warners Road, Reynolds Road, Benwells Road, Williams Road, and Alexandria Road in Cantonment to discharge it at Uyyakondan near MGR statue on the Bharathidasan Road.
A field study by TOI revealed that most of the stormwater drains in Cantonment area were either abandoned or littered with solid waste, shrinking the water carrying capacity. "Previously, sanitary workers regularly cleaned the stormwater drains, but now periodical cleaning is amiss even before the northeast monsoon. A few households discharge their wastewater into the stormwater drain," T Senthil Kumar, a resident of Palakkarai said.
According to urban development planners, the poor shape of the stormwater drains lead to inundation of low-lying areas in and around Cantonment. Unless and until the corporation clears the encroachments and reconstructs the stormwater drains to effectively collect and drain rainwater from roads to Uyyakondan, the roads will continue to face water stagnation. The poor shape of the stormwater drains beneath the platforms also pushes pedestrians to walk on the roads. "We have a proposal to strengthen the existing stormwater drains in Cantonment area. The work will begin before the onset of monsoon," said a senior official with Trichy City Corporation.