Chennai: At least 10 neighbourhoods in Maduravoyal and Koyambedu are flooding due to the constant hold-up of water at two low-level bridges on the Cooum river.
One of them, a 100-metre bridge in Maduravoyal that links Poonamallee High Road, has four 1.5-ft-wide culverts that are all choked by garbage and water hyacinth, blocking the flow. Even at the Padikuppam low-lying bridge, plastic and water hyacinth block the flow of water through the six small culverts.
At Maduravoyal, when water from upstream areas such as Thiruverkadu and Vanagaram gushes down the river at 30,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) it enters downstream neighbourhoods such as Adayalampattu and the service lanes of Maduravoyal-Tambaram bypass as the culverts of the low-lying bridge are choked. "Three people were washed away near this low-lying bridge in the past few years. It also collapsed last year, and we rebuilt it. The culverts are small, but since there's a bypass nearby, we have to study the feasibility of demolishing the low-lying structure and constructing a 15-ft-high bridge," said K Ganapathy, Maduravoyal MLA.
Ganapathy said two bridges were being built at Nolambur at 120 crore. "If there's no possibility of constructing a high-level bridge, once the other new bridges are constructed traffic can be stopped on this Maduravoyal bridge and abetment walls can be built," he said. People from Nolambur and Mogappair West currently use the low-level bridge to Maduravoyal via Poonamalle High Road.
When the Padikuppam bridge floods, which is often, people need to take a 2-km detour to reach Poonamalle High Road via Golden George Bridge. Uma Santhanam, Ward 93 councillor, said a project for a 100-metre bridge at 23 crore is being finalised. "The work will start in three months. The four-lane bridge will be at least 15ft-20ft high and will have a better scope for water to flow."
Residents said WRD must desilt culverts regularly before and during rains. "Even if water flows for 15 minutes, hyacinth and garbage from upstream clog small vents. Most ground floor houses flood because of this," said K Santhakumar who lives in the area.