Indian Express: Chennai: Tuesday, January 02, 2018.
The Public
Works Department has drawn up a `96-crore proposal to construct underground
drains from the Selaiyur lake to a vacant three-acre Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowment Department plot to prevent flooding of residential areas.
However, residents of Chitlapakkam, who are worst affected by the flooding, are
afraid this measure will do very little in stopping their area from flooding.
According to
the proposal, drains will be constructed under roads along which the excess
water from the Selaiyur lake flows during the monsoon after crossing the Velachery
Main Road.However, all water will continue to reach the three-acre plot, which
belongs to the HRCE department in Selaiyur, from where it overflows into
residential areas in Chitlapakkam before reaching the Sembakkam lake.If the
proposal materialises, streets such as Eshwari Nagar Street and Subash Chandra
Bose street which have become de facto canals that carry the water to the empty
plot, will benefit.
But most of
the water overflows into Chitlapakkam through the empty HRCE plot which looks
like a small pond during the monsoon and is polluted by raw sewage in the
summer.“Why isn’t the PWD tracing the original flow of water and identifying
residential and commercial buildings which are impediments?”, said P
Viswanathan, president of the Chitlapakkam Residents Welfare Association whose
RTI petition asking for details of the outlet water channels of Selaiyur lake
has been ignored.
Viswanathan’s
RTI petition was sent to the Water Resources Department on September 12. It was
forwarded by the executive engineer, A Muthaiya of the Lower Palar Basin
division, to his assistant on November 22, instructing him to provide
Viswanathan the information.But Viswanathan is yet to receive a response.
“Because the HRCE plot is empty, it ensures the flooding is minimised, but if
they construct buildings there, the flooding will be uncontrollable,” Viswanathan says.
When Express
contacted a PWD official in Kancheepuram district regarding the new proposal,
he maintained that the “cut-and-cover” method proposed is the most effective
way to prevent water from stagnating on roads.Viswanathan also claimed the
alternative suggested by the residents of Chitlapakkam to construct a drain
along the Velachery Main Road is “not a feasible option”.Residents feel let
down by the efforts taken by the government after Chief Minister Edappadi K
Palaniswami surveyed the flooded area in November.“This proposal is an
expensive short-term solution,” says Viswanathan.
RTI plea
sent to Water Resources Dept ignored
P
Viswanathan, president of the Chitlapakkam Residents Welfare Association, asks
“Why isn’t the PWD tracing the original flow of water and identifying
residential and commercial buildings which are impediments?” His RTI petition
asking for details of the outlet water channels of Selaiyur lake has been
ignored. Viswanathan’s RTI petition was sent to the Water Resources Department
on September 12. It was forwarded by the executive engineer, A Muthaiya of the
Lower Palar Basin division, to his assistant on November 22, instructing him to
provide Viswanathan the information. But Viswanathan is yet to receive a
response.
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