The Hindu 09.11.2010
Rains expose inadequacy of civic infrastructure
L. Srikrishna
|
Traffic snarl has become a common scene on many roads |
— Photo: S. James
HAVOC:Water stagnating at Goripalayam following heavy rain, as seen
recently.
MADURAI: At a time when traffic police are trying to find
alternatives to decongest vehicle movement in the city, heavy rain in
the recent days have been playing a spoilsport.
Many places such as Goripalayam, Periyar bus stand, railway station,
Arapalayam, some stretches of Kamarajar Salai, Sellur and Vasantha Nagar
had been inundated by rainwater. As a result, traffic gets choked and
comes to a grinding halt.
In a recent incident, prior to Deepavali day, heavy downpour in the
evening stopped the vehicle movement in many parts of the city. There
was no outlet for the rainwater to drain. Either the storm water
drainage outlets are encroached or the channels closed due to improper
upkeep. The lack of preparedness of the authorities got exposed on that
evening, many residents said.
Traffic police said that many missed the night trains to different
destinations as they could not reach the railway station on time. The
queue of vehicles was so long around the bus stand that drivers took
almost an hour to reach Periyar bus stand from Goripalayam. Traffic
moved at a snail’s pace, they pointed.
Periyar bus stand area was the worst affected as water got stagnated,
Corporation authorities said. For well over five hours, traffic flow
beyond Periyar bus stand towards Tirupparankundram Road was hit.
Residents of Vasanta Nagar and Jaihindpuram came to the roads as water
entered their houses. With electricity supply suspended, the public were
in a agitated mood. Even on Deepavali day, power was not resumed for a
long time.
Taking stock
In a bid to take stock of the situation, Commissioner of Police P.
Balasubramanian, Corporation Commissioner S. Sebastine, authorities from
the Highways, Public Works Department engineers, among other officials,
held a discussion on Monday.
A senior official said that after visiting the spots on the
Goripalayam- Periyar bus stand stretch, they would work out modalities
to remove encroachments on canals and identify water-logging spots, and
take measures to drain rainwater into the Kiruthumal canal from the
Periyar bus stand area, sources said.