Chennai: Sunday night showers brought low-lying areas of north Chennai under water on Monday and normalcy was affected in several parts of coastal districts of Tamil Nadu.
Flight operations in Chennai were also disrupted due to bad weather and several international flights landed with delay.
Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and Chennai received fresh spells of rains on Monday.
An international flight from Frankfurt was also diverted to Bangalore on Monday morning. The arrival and departure of about 30 flights were delayed but the operations became normal before noon, airport sources said.
In Chennai, the poll bound RK Nagar saw attention from civic authorities, while the adjacent areas witnessed sewer overflows and water-logging. Ramana nagar, Thiruvi Ka Nagar, Vysarpadi, Pattalam, Pulianthope and Choolai suffered water logging and there were drainage block complaints from the residents in these areas. However schools remained open as rains stopped Monday morning only to resume by noon. Corporation commissioner D. Karthikeyan also conducted a meeting with civic officials to discuss motor pumps positioning at low-lying areas and subways.
“Unchecked battered roads with water logging delays the journey time between Chennai and Vellore and road condition near the Sriperumbudur toll is badly maintained,” said J. Karthick, a travel agent based in Koyambedu. Motorists also suffered traffic snarls at arterial locations including Chennai Central, Koyambedu and Vadapalani.
Meanwhile, rumours that a cyclone was on its way towards the Nagapattinam coast also went viral. However the district administration authorities clarified that there were no cyclone warning alerts from weather department.
Tambaram residents protest against civic bodies
Residents of Tambaram on Monday staged a demonstration protesting against local bodies in south Chennai not attending to monsoon related complaints.
About 500 residents, agitated with Tambaram revenue authorities for not clearing water logging, blocked traffic along the arterial camp road connecting Velachery and Tambaram. Peak hour traffic came to a standstill and the police had a tough time pacifying the agitators.
After police tried to clear the demonstrators more residents from Agaranthen, Sainagar, Thiruvanchery and Paduvanchery joined the protest creating tension in the locality. At one stage, the public also warned police that they would block the traffic in the adjacent roads if they were forcibly removed. It was only after Kancheepuram Collector, P. Ponniah, visited the site that residents withdrew their agitation. The collector subsequently ordered authorities to use earth movers and motor pumps to drain the water.
“Taking children to school is a nightmare and the authorities fail to understand the public’s sufferings,” fumed V. Kalyani, who resides in Paduvanchery near Tambaram.
According to police sources, the district collector was scheduled to attend a function at Tambaram and when he came to know about the demonstration, rushed to the spot along with local revenue officials. After hearing public grievances, the collector conducted a review meeting and pulled up the local government staff for not redressing public complaints.
Every time the residents approached government departments they are forced to walk from pillar to post. The fresh spell of rain on Sunday has added to water-logging and mosquito menace, M. Murugan of Sainagar Residents Welfare Association, said.
