With the northeast monsoon, the lifeline of the state, likely to begin in a few days, the Tamil Nadu government has fast-tracked preparations to tackle the rains by ensuring that work on storm water drains across the state especially in Chennai are completed before the onset of the monsoon.
Chief Minister M K Stalin visited several areas of north Chennai, one of the flood-prone areas in the state capital, on Saturday to inspect the monsoon preparedness work. The visit on Saturday comes a week after Stalin inspected areas in south Chennai and in other parts in a bid to exert pressure on officials to complete the work soon.
Over Rs 200 crore is being spent to construct stormwater drains across Chennai, which was hit by heavy rains during last year’s monsoon in November. Several areas in the city have been dug up for construction of the drains, which has caused severe inconvenience to residents of Chennai.
After inspecting several areas, Stalin told reporters that all works related to monsoon preparedness will be completed within this month. “Most of the work has almost been completed. We expect the entire work to be over in the next 15 to 30 days. We are preparing Chennai to handle any kind of rain,” Stalin said.
Chennai and several parts of Tamil Nadu were inundated during the floods in 2021 as the intensity of the monsoon increased in November. The city received 10 cm of rainfall in a night – this year, the government has also arranged hundreds of water pumps to pump out water from areas prone to waterlogging.
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