Residents of Korattur and Ambattur Industrial Estate have been facing inundation and power outages for several days every Northeast monsoon. To address this issue, the Water Resources Department will soon build a channel to divert a portion of surplus water from Ambattur lake to the Cooum river.
The department will begin ₹ 130 crore project to reduce flood vulnerability in these localities in western parts of the city this week. Every year, the areas are marooned under sheets of water when Ambattur lake overflows owing to inadequate capacity to drain floodwater into Korattur lake.
A five-km channel is proposed to be built to carry a portion of the Ambattur lake’s surplus water from Cookson Road junction in the industrial estate’s north phase to Cooum river. The four-metre wide channel would travel via Third Main Road and service lane of Chennai Bypass Road and linked to Cooum river near Maduravoyal, said officials.
Residents urged that a significant portion of the flood mitigation work must be completed before the onset of NE monsoon. J.Gopalakrishnan, president, Korattur Federation of Residents Welfare Association said rainwater entered several houses in low lying areas of 25 to 29th streets of Venkatraman Nagar “People are worried to live on the ground floor of houses. Tenants insist on renting only first-floor houses and some residents even leave their houses locked during the rainy season,” said Mr. Gopalakrishnan who hopes that projects would help reduce water logging by 30%.
