Flood threat only to southern districts: CM Stalin
Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin said the water logging in Madurai, caused by the heavy rains on Friday had been cleared and that there was no threat to any other place other than the southern districts, where, according to the weather office, there could be heavy rains.
Speaking to the media at the DMK headquarters on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that in Madurai there were only eight places that faced water stagnation and that relief work was on full swing with two State Ministers camping there to oversee the operations.
To a question on the possibility of launching schemes in other places to prevent water logging as it was done in Chennai, he said the storm water drainage system would be set up in all places in the State depending on the rains.
Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who presided over a review meeting at the Secretariat on the preparedness to tackle the rains, urged the officers to report on the work done in Chennai after the rains on October 14, 15 and 16, though he appreciated them for their efforts to prevent any flooding in the State.
He enquired about the progress of the work undertaken in specific spots in the city like the Narayanapuram Lakeside and clearing the Ennore sea mouth of fly ash, for which the Chief Minister had sanctioned Rs 28 crore.
Obtaining details about the spots that saw water logging and the time it took for pumping out water from there and sought information on the places that suffered power cuts during the rains and how they were solved.
Water bodies like the Otteri Nullah canal, the Virugambakkam channel and Veerangal channel had been taken over for maintenance by the Corporation, he said.
The deputy chief minister urged the officials to ensure that the people were protected from the floods as more rains were expected in November. However he appreciated them for working fast and ensuring that normal life returned to water affected places quickly during the last spell of the North East monsoon.