The residents of VJ Flat, Cholapuram Street and Valimiki Street, met Councillor of Ward 179, J.Kayalvizhi, on July 16, to put forth the issues they faced regarding flooding of streets and their homes. “Rainwater does not drain in Cholapuram Street. Though there are a couple of recharge wells, however, due to the incline of the locality, the water from Cholapuram Street doesn’t run into the stormwater drain (SWD) in Valmiki Street,” explained R.Gowrishankar, a resident of VJ Flats.
Below are the highlights from the meeting:
At the meeting, the Corporation AE said that nothing could be done for the current rains, however, a permanent solution will be planned after ECR widening and the stormwater drain construction is complete, post which the line from Valmiki Street shall be joined to ECR.
As a temporary measure, a sump / well with a submersible pump is being planned near the Adyar Bakery junction. Also, they will get approval for fixing a suitable pipe from the lowest point of Valmiki Street to ECR and the same will be implemented within a month.
AE CMWSSB informed that a new plan has been prepared for relaying new pipelines and installing a pumping station opposite Shruthi Apartments, for
which the Corporation needs to provide the necessary space for wells and pumps.
Meanwhile, the residents suggested the below temporary measures:
- Establish a pipeline connection from Cholapuram Street to the SWD in Valmiki Street so that rainwater flows to the drains of Kalakshetra Road or ECR as appropriate.
- Desilting and cleaning of the recharge wells and SWDs in Cholapuram and Valmiki Street.
- GCC could evaluate the possibility of constructing drain pits (at the discarded gym), to pump the stormwater (similar to the one at the Jayanthi Signal). This is in case Valmiki Street water cannot naturally run through to Kalakshetra Road, due to terrain issues.