Improve surplus courses of lakes in Medavakkam to prevent floods, say residents

Residents of Medavakkam demanded that the surplus h2o transmission of Sitheri, 1 of the insignificant lakes successful the locality, beryllium desilted and the missing links beryllium bridged to trim waterlogging and forestall sewage contamination done the storm-water drain (SWD) network.

Members of the Federation of SSJ Residents’ Welfare Association said astir 500 households successful Sri Sathya Sai Nagar, Jaya Nagar, and Surya Nagar faced the hazard of inundation whenever the water reaches its capacity.

C. Mathikumar, the association’s secretary, said the water often faced the menace of breaching owed to the lack of due transmission connectivity for surplus h2o to travel and drain into the Pallikaranai marshland. “Sitheri is already connected the brink being full. The blocks successful the surplus transmission flowing done Thiruvalluvar Street indispensable beryllium removed,” helium said.

Though impermanent measures person been carried retired to apprehension overflow, the authorities indispensable instrumentality imperishable steps to forestall the hazard of inundation, said residents. They besides noted that untreated sewage is being discharged into the waterbody arsenic the SWD web successful the neighbourhood remained incomplete. They complained that contamination successful the waterbody had affected groundwater prime successful the surrounding localities.

Similarly, residents demanded that the channels bringing inflow into the Medavakkam Kaleri and its surplus transmission beryllium improved. Arjun Shankar of Medavakkam said the travel of surplus h2o from Kaleri to Sitheri — portion of a concatenation of interconnected waterbodies — has been disrupted owing to respective years’ worthy of silt successful the channel. This has besides caused reverse travel of h2o contaminated with sewage into the Periya Eri, a water located upstream.

Although the eco-restoration task of Kaleri was announced past year, the task is yet to instrumentality off. Authorities indispensable chalk retired schemes to rejuvenate the concatenation of waterbodies draining into the Pallikaranai marshland, Mr. Arjun said.

Officials of the Water Resources Department said enactment to amended the inlets and surplus people of Kaleri would beryllium initiated aft the northeast monsoon. Temporary measures would beryllium implemented to supply alleviation from inundation during this season, they added.