Residents irked by incessant

digging of roads for drain work

No fresh excavations after Sept. 20, existing projects will be finished on time: GCC
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI

With the onset of the north-

east monsoon expected in a
few weeks, residents in sev-
eral areas have complained
about the fresh digging of
roads for stormwater drain
work. According to resi-
dents, roads in areas such as
Velachery, Choolaimedu, T.
Nagar and Egmore have
been dug up recently.
Velachery resident S.
Kumararaja said the road
connecting Velachery-Tara-
mani Road to Perungudi rail-
way station, Bharani Street,
in ward 178, had been dug up
for stormwater drain work
last week. “Residents fear
that the work will be de-
layed. It is a good project,
and the proposal is fine. But
the project must be complet-
ed ahead of the monsoon.
Once the diversion of excess
water from Kallukuttai to
Buckingham Canal is com-
pleted, flooding in Udayam
Nagar, Seshadripuram and
Park Avenue will be con-
trolled. Currently, the water
drains into the Pallikaranai
Marshland,” Mr. Kumararaja
said.
Residents said most of the
interior roads in wards 176,
177 and 178 in Velachery had
been dug up, with civic agen-
cies, such as the Greater
Chennai Corporation (GCC)
and the Tamil Nadu Genera-
tion and Distribution Corpo-
ration (Tangedco), imple-
Men at work: Construction of stormwater drain in progress on T.T.K. Road.
menting their projects.
T. Nagar resident V.S. Jaya-
raman said work on develop-
ment of a bigger drain on
Motilal Street was under
way.
“They should link the
drain with the disposal point
on Usman Road before the
monsoon,” he said. Roads in
other flooded parts of T. Na-
gar have been dug up this
week to develop new drains.
Similarly, roads in areas
such as Thiruvengadapuram
in ward 109 have been dug
up by the Corporation to de-
velop new stormwater
drains. In Egmore, digging of
roads, such as Rukmani
Lakshmipathi Salai and Red
Cross Road, was undertaken
on Saturday for the develop-
ment of stormwater drains.
In Pulianthope, residents
said the work along Powder
Mills Road and Kannigapu-
ram Main Road had been de-
layed. Ward 72 councillor M.
Saravanan said 90% of the
work was completed, and
the rest would be taken up
only after an EB pillar box
was shifted. “Many electrical
cables have been damaged
in the area. Officials have
planned to resume work af-
ter the EB pillar box is shift-
ed next week,” he said.
In Teynampet zone, ward
109 councillor E. Suganya
said work on flood-prone
areas, such as Anna Nedum-
pathai, would be completed
this month. “Digging in Thi-
ruvenkadapuram has started
this week. The work will be
completed this month,” Ms.
Suganya said.
Ward 129 councillor M.
*
K.V. SRINIVASAN
Ravi Shankar said the resi-
dents had requested the Cor-
poration to complete the
work before the onset of the
northeast monsoon. “Over
70% of the drains along
flood-prone parts of Aruna-
chalam Road in Saligramam
have been completed. Only
70% work along VOC Street,
Pammal Nallathambi Street
and Arcot Road has been
completed,” said Mr. Ravi
Shankar.
GCC officials said the civic
body would stop digging up
new stretches of roads by
September 20. “The GCC has
decided to stop digging up
new stretches of roads after
September 20 to prepare for
the northeast monsoon. Ex-
isting work will be complet-
ed by the end of September,”
an official said.