Officials of the Chitlapakkam Selection Grade Town Panchayat and residents welfare associations from Chitlapakkam recently held a meeting on monsoon preparedness, complying with the directions of the Kancheepuram district collectorate.
Besides members of residents welfare associations, shopkeepers, members of self-help groups and members of the voluntary organisation Hand in Hand took part in the meeting.
Participants said the residential locality was considerably affected during last year’s deluge. One of the worst-affected streets in Chitlapakkam was Babu Street, which was flooded due to discharge of excess rainwater from Selaiyur lake. Lack of water channels to drain out the excess rainwater from Selaiyur lake to Sembakkam lake, was the reason for the street getting flooded.
L. Sundararaman, president, Chitlapakkam Muthulakshmi Nagar Welfare Association, and a long-time resident of Chitlapakkam, said, “The canal construction work should be completed at the earliest so as to discharge the excess rainwater, at the intersection of Camp Road and Velachery Main Road, from Selaiyur to Sembakkam lake.”
Houses on the other stretches — Pamban Swamigal Street, Thiru.Vi.Ka Street, Sai Ram Street, Kasturi Bai Street and Saradambal Street — were badly affected as these stretches are located at a higher level than the houses there.
“The thoroughfares were laid without scrapping,” Sundararaman pointed out. Other suggestions to arrest flooding include de-silting of stormwater drains and clearing of garbage dumped in the stormwater drains.
They also suggested that construction debris on thoroughfares be removed to enable free flow of water to the drains, avoiding stagnation.
“The road-laying work and construction of culvert (inter-linking of stormwater drains) should be completed at the earliest. The roads should be scrapped before re-laying,” the residents said.
Residents of Sri Sarvamanagala Nagar, Chitlapakkam, pointed out that at many places, the height of the stormwater drain is greater than the height of the road.
Apart from stormwater drains, rainwater harvesting pits should be constructed for conserving rainwater.
“Encroachments on water channels should be cleared to facilitate free flow of rainwater from Selaiyur lake to Sembakkam lake and finally to the Pallikaranai marsh,” K. Ramakrishna, a resident of Sri Sarvamanagala Nagar, said.
Official sources at the Chitlapakkam Selection Grade Town Panchayat said works were on to clear the blocks in the drains. “We are coordinating with Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco) to prune the tree branches as low-hanging cable wires pass through them. Apart from this, inflatable rubber boats and sand bags have been kept ready for handling emergency situations,” the officials said.
