MADURAI: The heavy rains that lashed Madurai on Wednesday evening did not even spare the Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple. Devotees were taken back when the courtyard outside the sanctum sanctorum of Lord Sundareswarar was inundated in the wake of the downpour.
Madurai received 420.60 mm (42.06 cm) rainfall in just three hours between 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm on Wednesday. It was for the third time in the last one month, the temple city witnessed the same amount of rainfall on a single day, according to Revenue officials. The four Chithirai streets surrounding the temple also went under a thick sheet of water, which also intruded into the temple precincts, an unusual sight for those inside the courtyard. The temple authorities acted swiftly and started pumping out the water. But the curiosity got the better of many people who started video-graphing the courtyard flooding, where the ‘Kodimaram’ and various deities have been gracing and transmitting the visuals through social media.
While the temple authorities blamed the poor drainage system in the Chithirai streets for inundating of the courtyard, the city corporation commissioner Dr Aneesh Sekhar said that the drainage could not discharge the huge volume of rain water that accumulated in the streets during the short span of time.
However, sources said that it was not for the first time, the courtyard was being flooded during heavy rainfall.
“As there were blocks in junction points of drainage canal, the rain water get stagnated in the streets,” claimed the sources, adding, they also constructed a brick wall outside the courtyard to prevent flooding. Though the temple floor is situated at a lower level below the Chithirai streets, it has evolved a foolproof system to drain out floodwaters from the premise to the 'Potramarai Kulam' located near sanctum sanctorum of Goddess Meenakshi, said the sources. Civil society members also complained about the lack of rainwater harvesting structures in residential buildings and commercial shops located near the temple.
Responding to this, the corporation commissioner said that they were evolving remedial measures in coordination with the temple authorities to prevent such flooding in the future.
