Water flows freely through Okkiyam Maduvu, says Minister E.V. Velu

Highways Minister E.V. Velu on Wednesday said efforts had been taken to ensure the free flow of floodwater through the Okkiyam Maduvu, where the Chennai Metro Rail is constructing a bridge.

Speaking to presspersons after inspecting the spot, he said that water was flowing to capacity at the point, and temporary obstructions used during the construction of the bridge across the Maduvu on Rajiv Gandhi Salai had been removed by the contracting company.

The evacuation of water through the Maduvu was important to ensure that areas such as Pallikaranai, Medavakkam, Velachery and OMR do not get flooded.

Sources in L&T, the contracting company, said that the width of the bridge upstream was 19 m, and provisions have been made to ensure that floodwater uses the entire space to flow through. “Downstream, the width of the Maduvu is 200 m, and there is no obstruction in that area too.”

The Minister said that tractor-mounted motor pumps had been kept ready at 15 locations, which had been identified as heavy inundation points despite having storm-water drains.

“We are equipped to pump out water within an hour if there is rain up to 17 cm,” he added.

A total of 34 teams of officials had been formed to ensure that the roads maintained by the department remain free of inundation. As many as 500 personnel have been working 24/7 to remove floodwater and repair roads on a war footing.