There are small colonies in the shadows of Mylapore zone which take the worst hits when something like this week’s record rainfall disturbed their lives.
Sundara Gramani Thottam and Shanmugha Pillai Street are located near Hamilton Bridge, metres behind the Citi Centre Mall on Dr. Radhakrishnan Salai.
The two streets are packed tightly with small dwellings of people who are daily-wage labourers, electricians, painters and odd-job workers.
Earlier this week, as the water swelled in the Canal that runs alongside this area, it overflowed into the streets and flooded almost all the dwellings here. “The water was very dirty and it came up to my waist,” said one woman.
Over 200 families had to evacuate. Many have been housed in a Chennai School in the same area. They say they cannot go back home anytime soon since the stagnant water remains inside many dwellings to this day.
One resident said that if the Canal is dredged close to monsoon time, it will save them from this hapless situation.
- Report & photo by Elakiya Prabhu
