This monsoon too, several stretches of Rajiv Gandhi Salai are likely to experience flooding, with repairs on drains yet to be taken up. These areas face excess flooding, and stormwater drains do not support the discharge of water.Sources in the Highways Department said the problem points had been identified after last year’s rains. “The drains running from the IT corridor to the Buckingham Canal were at a higher level than OMR at points, including at Nehru Nagar, Karapakkam, Kandachavady, and Apollo Hospital junction. Water from many interior areas reach OMR, leading to flooding of the arterial road.”Since the drains running via interior roads belong to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), it has been tasked to construct new drains or reduce the height of the existing ones.At IGP bus stop or Nehru Nagar, the drain is 40 cm above OMR, and corrections have to be carried for a length of 250 m. However, works have not yet begun.Similarly, at Kandachavady, where the drain runs via Veeramani Salai, work to lower the stormwater drain has just begun. A huge diesel powered motor has been installed to pump out water.“Utility lines, including EB mains and water lines, run through service lanes and interior roads. These have to shifted. Street lamp posts, too, come in the way. It would be very difficult to shift these, and complete the works before the monsoon,” a retired Highways official said.At the Apollo Hospital junction, a new cross culvert is to be constructed. “This is because they cannot connect with an existing drain running via Burma Colony. The new line will run via Santhosh Nagar. However, this work has not begun,” a local maintenance engineer said. At Karapakkam too, the work to reduce the height of a drain is yet to begin.Meanwhile, the Highways has completed works to connect and desilt drains at Tidel Park, SRP Tools, and Egattur.Anandan, a resident of Karapakkam, says that OMR has been getting flooded from the time the road was formed. “There used to be several points, including YMCA, RRE, and Karapakkam, where water flowed like a river. Over the years, the height of many interior roads have gone up, causing the run off to flow onto OMR. At the same time, the height of OMR was increased such that several streets fell below it. This shows the lack of planning and coordination between various agencies,” he said.Published - August 23, 2025 12:56 am IST