Built on floodplains, Mudichur pays the price for unregulated ‘development’

Built on floodplains, Mudichur pays the price for unregulated ‘development’

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

28.11.2020

Whenever it rains, Mudichur in the southern suburbs goes under water. The worst case was during the 2015 floods, when the Adyar overflowed with water from Chembarambakkam. But the effects of cyclone Nivar too saw residential colonies in Mudichur and adjoining Varadarajapuram inundated. While scores of residents moved to the first floors of their houses, 85 families had to be shifted to safer areas from their homes.

The residents are paying the price for unregulated development. Their lesson: If you build houses on floodplains and farmland, water will get into your homes.

Two decades ago, before realtors encroached into Mudichur and Varadharajapuram, the area had vast tracts of agriculture land, which were also the flood plains of river Adayar. The topography is such that the entire area is converted into a seasonal lake during the rainy season. The water recedes in a week. Construction mushroomed over 20 years, hampering free flow of water and shrinking the flood plains. The result: New residential colonies in Mudichur and Varadarajapuram were under 14 feet of water during the 2015 deluge. Things aren’t much better now.

D Vijayan, a native of Varadharajapuram, said “I grew up watching such floods, though the difference was then farmland was submerged. Later, residential complexes came up, but the floods continue.”

“Streets in layouts in the vicinity of Adyar River channel including Amudham Nagar were the worst hit. You can still find water filled uninhabited housing plots,” a revenue department official said.

Attempts by the government after 2015 to arrest the floods have proved futile. This year, steps taken to channel excess water discharged from the Chembarambakkam reservoir to seven lakes in Chengalpet district so that residential areas around Tambaram are not submerged have failed. The plan was to divert excess water from Chembarambakkam to lakes including Nandivaram, Nanmangalam, Perumbakkam and New Tambaram. It didn’t work, given the topography.

K P Subramanian, former professor of urban engineering at Anna University, said land use planning must be improved and construction activity should be regulated to prevent such “manmade disasters”.