Nearly three years have passed since the disastrous floods hit Chennai in 2015. One would assume that the government bodies would get straight into action and find the cause for the floods and solve the issue.
Although it has taken 36 months for authorities to roll their sleeves up, good times seem to have come residents’ way at Madipakkam and surrounding areas, as the Corporation and neighbouring Municipalities are proposing to undertake a joint exercise to demolish hundreds of houses and commercial establishments built over encroached lands in the neighbourhood and specifically those blocking natural water pathways.
Residents stated that the effects of the 2015 December deluge at Madipakkam and nearby areas was understated thanks to the heavy inundations along the course of Adyar and Cooum Rivers.
They opined that Madipakkam and surrounding localities bore equal brunt due to their close proximity to Pallikaranai marshland, that was not able to drain excess storm water at that time.
“Many localities in the neighbourhood like Sunnambu Kolathur, Keelkattalai, Nanmangalam get flooded even to this date when the heavens open up briefly due to rise in encroachments there,” said Mohan, a resident speaking to News Today.
Sources said the joint exercise which will soon take place is part of a city-wide drive wherein more than 5,300 buildings have already been demolished in the last few months.
Of the thousands of buildings that will be demolished in the next phase, 969 houses and 126 commercial buildings come under Pallavaram-Sholinganallur belt covering Madipakkam, Keelkattalai, Kovilambakkam and Nanmangalam along the Radial Road that leads to the marshlands.
Initially, focus will be on demolishing certain industries in the neighbourhood which are preventing flood water from Keelkattalai, Kovilambakkam and Nanmangalam from reaching Narayanapuram lake at the Radial Road. The lake has direct access to the marshlands, as well.
Once industries have been dealt with, remaining tenements will be cleared, officials said, adding that residents whose buildings come under the list will soon be notified.
Guberan, a resident of Kovilambakkam, said, “While this is a good initiative, I doubt whether it will be completed, as all the attempts made by the government to widen the Koot Road in the past had either ended in vain or got highly delayed. If officials are strict, then we can make our locality to be flood-proof. Even after numerous awareness campaigns, encroachments still crop up. Hope this measure will at least prevent such activities.”