After three days of incessant rain that inundated the main thoroughfares in the metropolis, Chennai is limping back to normality as on Friday. The nature was kind to the city as it did not rain much since Thursday night and the waterlogged regions got some relief on Friday.
“Most of the ring roads and subways continue to be flooded and it would take couple of days for the flood water to subside,” said S Ranganath of Rare Publishers, a long time resident of the city. He said the battering received during the last two days showed that things have not moved an inch since the massive floods of 2015.
“Till the authorities remove the encroachers from the banks of the canals and the sides of the stormwater drains, Chennai would face this kind of floods in future too. The encroachers are the vote banks and they have been legalised by the previous DMK administration,” charged Ranganath.
More than 500 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units in the City, one of the mainstays of Tamil Nadu’s economy, suffered a setback as they were flooded with rainwater. “The units are not functioning since Monday and many units have ordered shut down. This is a recurring phenomenon and we need a permanent solution,” said A N Gireeshan, president of Ambattur Unit MSME.
Prof S Vincent, former secretary, Tamil Nadu State Council of Science and Technology, during the reign of M Karunanidhi, put the blame on the departments of storm water drains and sewage. “ In 2009 itself, we had submitted a master plan to rectify the blocks in the storm water drains as well as the drainage system.