Engineers get three days to prepare monsoon plans for Chennai

CHENNAI: With the monsoon round the corner, all assistant engineers in corporation zones have been given some serious homework for their three-day holiday starting Friday. 

The engineers will have to prepare flow maps, sketches of water flow patterns, and compile details of flood-prone areas. Senior corporation officials mentioned that the exercise would be considered a part of monsoon preparedness and that field-level engineers must utilise the three-day holiday to prepare the city for reduced waterlogging this rainy season.

Documents that the engineers should send to Ripon Building include a single flow map with representation of stormwater drains in red and under-construction stormwater drains in green, programme evaluation review technique (PERT) charts of under-construction drains, a list of drains partially or fully clogged by sewage, and a list of flood-prone areas.

According to an internal communication, the documents should reach the Ripon Building by Monday, failing which appropriate action could be initiated against the errant engineer. After submitting the details, all assistant engineers would have to appear for a personal meeting at Ripon Buildings to explain to their superior officers the pattern of water flow till it reached a nearby canal.

Every drain in the area should be studied individually at the start and mouth points and it should be pointed out whether the drain had been fully desilted. “In case of a new drain, you (the engineers) should be able to explain the status (of construction),” the letter read.