Wed Oct 23 15:52:53 UTC 2024: Published – October 23, 2024 09:22 pm IST – MADURAIOne of the streets at Narimedu in Madurai with knee-deep water on Wednesday following the overnight rain. | Photo Credit: R. ASHOK
Once again, the fear of rain has caught people of Madurai as rainwater entered many houses near Sellur and Narimedu on Wednesday.As bunds of Pandalgudi channel breached and Sellur tank overflowed, houses and shops in the vicinity were filled with knee-deep rainwater mixed with sewage. Despite Corporation officials and elected members having assured the people during a similar incident in the last week that it would not recur as cleaning and desilting works had been carried out, the same problem was witnessed in these areas.
The affected residents questioned how long they have to believe the false promises of the officials. “Even before sunrise, rainwater started entering houses as the roads were already inundated,” said a shopkeeper near Jothi Higher Secondary School in Narimedu.Many parents were afraid of dropping their children at school on seeing roads having knee-deep rainwater. “While some feared that there may be cut-off and live electrical wire lying in the water, others feared that their children may fall sick if they drank water mixed with drainage,” one of the parents said.
He said flooding is back after a long time. “After five or six years, we witness the problem only now. Though it did not rain that much to flood the streets, it was due to the overflowing of nearby canals and breach of tanks,” he said.
Though corporation officials said that works were being expedited to drain water, residents of Kattabomman Nagar staged a demonstration in the evening condemning the inaction of the corporation.In the evening, one Pandiarajan fell into Panthalkudi channel while trying to remove the waste from the channel that resulted in clogging of drainage near his house. Fire and Rescue Services jumped into the channel to rescue him and could only fish out his body.
The onlookers complained that had the corporation officials done their work properly, he would not have entered into the channel to clear the blockage.
Published – October 23, 2024 09:22 pm IST
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