Mon Oct 14 11:22:17 UTC 2024: ## Chennai Braces for Monsoon, but Concerns Over Incomplete Infrastructure Persist

**Chennai:** As the northeast monsoon approaches, residents of Chennai are expressing mounting anxiety over the city’s preparedness, citing incomplete stormwater drain (SWD) projects and a lack of desilting efforts.

While the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) claims that most SWD construction and interlinking works are complete, residents are highlighting several areas where projects remain unfinished, leaving them vulnerable to flooding. In Thanikachalam Nagar, Madhavaram, residents are facing ongoing water stagnation due to an incomplete SWD interlinking project, despite the area experiencing chest-level flooding during last year’s cyclone. Similar concerns are raised by residents of Old Washermenpet, Velachery, and Mylapore, where incomplete SWD projects and open pits pose significant safety hazards.

Furthermore, the lack of desilting efforts in crucial channels like the Otteri Nullah is raising alarm bells. The Otteri Nullah, which drains surplus water from central Chennai, remains clogged with waste and mud, impacting its capacity to manage the monsoon flow. The encroachment of the water body by residential buildings has further reduced its capacity.

Meanwhile, the Velachery lake, which serves as a crucial water body for the surrounding areas, is choked with plastic waste, untreated sewage, and water hyacinth. The GCC has not taken any steps to desilt the lake or remove the floating waste, raising concerns about its ability to handle excess rainwater during the monsoon.

Despite these concerns, the GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran assured that the corporation has installed motor pumps in areas with incomplete drains and has prepared 13,000 volunteers and 113 HP motor pumps to address flooding. The railway culverts have also been desilted.

However, residents remain skeptical about the city’s preparedness, highlighting the urgent need for immediate action to complete pending infrastructure projects and address the ongoing concerns about desilting and waste management. The coming days will be crucial in determining whether the city’s efforts will be enough to mitigate the impact of the monsoon and prevent a repeat of the devastating floods of 2015.

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