Rain throws traffic out of gear in city

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, OCT. 5. Heavy rains lashed different parts of the city this evening taking people by surprise and throwing normal traffic on important roads including Anna Salai out of gear.

Though a respite for the water-starved city, the rain for many residents, especially motorists was the last thing that they had in mind before calling it a day for the weekend. However, there were indications of rainfall through the day with the skies remaining generally cloudy.

While Nungambakkam observatory of the Meteorological department had 44 mm of rainfall till 8-30 p.m., it was 67.6 mm at the centre in Meenambakkam till the same time. But, the intensity of the rain in Red Hills, the terminal storage point for the city water supply, was not as heavy as in the city, according to Metrowater officials.

The torrential rain continued to pour till late night. According to the forecast for Saturday, there will be a few rain spells, one or two of which will be heavy.

Friday's rain exposed the limitations of the civic agencies in handling such situations as water-logging was reported from many areas including Pudupet and Chintadripet, parts of Anna Salai, Mylapore, Mandavelli and Pallavan Salai, which houses depots of a few State Transport Corporations.

Adding to the confusion for the motorists and pedestrians was the work undertaken by various agencies as part of which they had resorted to digging of the roads. The situation was grave in Velachery and surrounding areas, particularly on the Velachery High Road. Continuous digging by Chennai Telephones for cable laying work has left only a small portion of the road for use. Residents of the area added, ``even otherwise, the roads are in a bad shape and inadequate lighting, leading to frequent accidents''. This evening, traffic was disturbed on the stretch between Sardar Patel-Velachery High Road junction and Five Furlong Road.

The situation was no different for those who travelled by train as the suburban services on the EMU route were also affected.

Some minor accidents due to skidding of the vehicle and collision in the bumper-to-bumper traffic were reported on Anna Salai. Roadside mechanics did a roaring business attending to vehicles which got stranded due to the rain.

One common talk among the residents was that the rain spell would help raise the water-table in their area.

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Section  : Southern States
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