Chennai rain: Residents say they got instant help from councillors during inundation

CHENNAI: DMK’s Tuticorin MP Kanimozhi on Friday lauded Stella Jasmine Rathna. the DMK councillor in ward 128, for providing help to a flood-affected resident when none of the city corporation officials responded to the resident's grievance calls.
Latha Sreedhar, a resident of Virugambakkam's Saradha Nagar, posted on Facebook that there was above knee-level rainwater mixed with sewage. "There was no effect in calling the helpline numbers. So I called DMK councillor Stella, who immediately visited my house. She immediately arranged for removing water and was with us till 9 pm when the water was fully drained. It is very difficult to find a woman like her," her post read.
Kanimozhi responded to this post, saying, "Proud of You, Rathna," appreciating the councillor.
This was not the only instance. TOI checked with residents from various areas, who also echoed the same.
Geetha Ganesh of AGS colony in Velachery said during the rain, ward 176 councillor V Anandam visited their street. "The councillor himself called us for inspection to let him know the spots where the storm water drain's silt catch pits were clogged. He made arrangements to unclog the pits. We together inspected various streets," he said.
Ward 126 councillor Amritha Varshini has created a flood-emergency contact registry that has numbers of all the zonal officials in all the departments.
Ward 99 councillor Parithi ElamSurithi said he has a WhatsApp group for all the corporation departments separately. "In this group, there are residents and officials. So, I immediately pass the issues and make officials come to the spot. One concern is that there are not adequate zonal staff. If there is inundation in one place, it takes a few hours to remove water. The same staff goes to another locality after that. He (the staff) gets tired during the process. The corporation must add more staff members," he said.
Kavi Ganesan, ward 12 councillor, said there was a good response from residents. "I had given my phone number during the election campaign. I am surprised many residents had saved it back then and called me during rain. The corporation and Metrowater officials are cooperating very well to address sewage and inundation issues," he said.