Residential colonies along Tiruchi Road in trouble

Five residential colonies along Tiruchi Road in the city may even be tempted to equate Sanganur Canal with Huang Ho - the river that is known as the `Sorrow of China'. Huang Ho has a history of killing many during floods. Overflow from Sanganur Canal or a breach in its bund every year triggers fear of loss of life or property among the residents in colonies close to it.

The water that overflowed from the canal on the night of November 1 is yet to drain from most of the roads of the Kothari Layout, B.R. Nagar, Raja Nagar, Govindasamy Nagar and Sri Andal Nagar. With the possibility of more rain, the residents fear that the worst is yet to come.

The very few portions of roads that are dry do not offer much comfort to the residents. Slush or dry silt remains to torment them.

`Elite' areas


For a stranger, these areas will give the impression of being ones that are not wanted by the rest of the city. Actually, they are considered `elite' areas after Race Course, R.S. Puram and Saibaba Colony. But, for more than two weeks, people dread using cars, motorcycles and scooters as a sheet of water has submerged the streets. Pits dug for laying a foundation and rods jutting out threaten to kill people on a site along Udayampalayam Road.

The road and the colonies are located north of Tiruchi Road and the first signs of the people's plight are visible as soon as one reaches a car dealer's service station. A flooded Udayampalayam Road welcomes one to the B.R. Nagar. An autorickshaw driver struggles to get to a dry patch of road. V. Srinivasan, who has been living in B.R. Nagar for 20 years, says that with encroachments on the canal and garbage blocking flow, water rises above the bund and enters these residential colonies and also some on the southern side of the road. "Now some small waterways for rainwater to drain are also blocked. This leads to water logging in our areas."

R. Subramanian, a resident in the same colony, says dirt water entered the drinking water sump. Slush also entered his bore well whenever such flooding occurred and the repairs cost him heavily. Water is already discharged into a farm in the colony. After reaching a saturation point during heavy rain, excess water flows out and submerges roads. Some residents say that people step out of their houses for office in lungis and shorts. They carry their trousers and shoes and wear these at the house of a friend or relative that has escaped flooding.

Difficult times

The house of Coimbatore Corporation's Works Committee Chairman R. Ramaswamy is the first on B.R. Nagar's fourth street. It stares at a sheet of water.

An aggrieved resident at Govindaswamy Nagar has placed sandbags in front of his house to prevent water from entering it. People have been going through very difficult times as the area had been flooded four times this month, he says.

Mr. Srinivasan says that Mayor `Colony' R. Venkatachalam, Deputy Mayor N. Karthik, Ward 14 councillor R. Cheralathan and Corporation officials visited these areas in the first week of this month and had promised a solution.

Solution

But, nothing has been done so far to drain the water. Meena Estate and a few other areas that had reeled under such flooding every year till a couple of years ago are now safe. A low causeway near Puliyakulam had been replaced with a high-level bridge as blocks caused by garbage led to a backflow of water from the canal to the residential areas. But, the threat to other areas from the canal persists, as the situation in B.R. Nagar and nearby layouts point out.

Source: The Hindu