Five cm rainfall washes away civic body claims

CHENNAI: The city was submerged following heavy downpour on Friday, leading to inundation and flooding in several parts of the city.

The 5 cm rainfall that started on Friday morning and continued till late evening, flooded arterial roads and washed away all claims by the corporation that the city was prepared for the coming northeast monsoon.

Traffic came to a standstill around Express Avenue. General Patters road was completely flooded, forcing pedestrians to wade across traffic in knee-deep water. Royapettah Whites road was also inundated after the stormwater drain structures failed to absorb the rainwater.

Motorists and pedestrians were stuck in endless jams as the downpour washed away all the desilting work of stormwater drains that the corporation claims to have done.

“What is the use of desilting the drains when the silt removed is not taken away and washes into the drains once again during the rains?” asked Mr K. Ranganathan, a pedestrian. Traffic was slow along parts of Mount Road where metro rail work is on.

T. Nagar became a nightmare for Deepavali shoppers as congestion increased following the rain. Water stagnation along the roadsides of Thyagaraya road made it impossible to park two-wheelers there, adding to the chaos.

Vehicles plying towards Ashok Pillar from T. Nagar were diverted after an MTC bus got stuck in the Duraisamy subway. Vehicles were diverted towards North Usman road, which further jammed the stretch. Parts of Central, Ashok Nagar main road, Kodambakkam, Thirumangalam, Nanganallur, Madambakkam, Maduvankarai and Alandur were also submerged.

Despite swirling rainwater on the streets, corporation officials stuck to their stand that they were ready with pre-monsoon arrangements and desilting of stormwater drains was on throughout the city. “We have been plugging illegal sewer outlets into stormwater drains throughout the city,” said a corporation official.