Chennai waterlogging, uprooted trees and damaged roads disrupted the city’s morning commute after heavy overnight rainfall on Tuesday, with several stretches remaining affected until late morning and some neighbourhoods facing longer drainage delays.
Waterlogging was reported on Bazullah Road in T Nagar, Taramani-Velachery Road, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Aziz Nagar, Subramaniyan Nagar and School Road near Valluvar Kottam. In AGS Colony, 3rd Main Road and interior streets of Velachery, stagnant water took longer to recede. The affected areas were reported to have been drained by around 11 am, although local residents said some streets continued to face recurring accumulation after the downpour.
Trees were uprooted at several locations, including Subramania Nagar 2nd Street and adjoining roads in Kodambakkam, Police Quarters Road in T Nagar and 11th Street in TNHB Colony, Korattur. The fallen trees were subsequently removed, according to the report.
S Gopi, secretary of the Subramania Nagar Civic and Neighbourhood Welfare Association, said runoff water from Railway Border Road moves through Valliammal Garden Main Road and Second Street before passing through a railway culvert towards T Nagar. The water then collects in a sump, where a 25-horsepower dewatering motor is used to pump it out.
Gopi said the disposal capacity remained insufficient after heavy overnight rainfall and that water continued to stagnate on the street. He urged officials to deploy pumping arrangements proactively instead of responding only after water accumulates. He said the existing motor was expected to drain the water by 3 pm.
In AGS Colony, residents said Minister R Kumar and Greater Chennai Corporation officials inspected flood-affected areas. Geetha Ganesh, secretary of the AGS Colony Residents’ Welfare Association, said the minister directed officials to deploy additional tractor-mounted motor pumps and maintain round-the-clock monitoring. Residents also renewed their demand for a scientific study by experts from IIT Madras and Anna University to identify the causes of flooding and prepare a permanent mitigation plan.
The rain-related disruption has also exposed the effect of unfinished utility works on road access. G Manivasagam, president of the Secretariat Colony Residents’ Welfare Association, said Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board officials had excavated Sakthi Srinivasan Road for sewage pipeline work. According to him, the work had progressed slowly for six months, leaving the road slushy and damaged. He said Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus services from Secretariat Colony to Island Ground, Royapuram, T Nagar, Guduvanchery and Koyambedu had been suspended for the same period because buses could not use the road.
Civic activist Ramesh Ramadoss said pipeline work by the Metro Water board had been completed four months earlier in parts of Old Washermenpet, but road relaying had not been completed. He cited Ekambaram Street and Ramanujam Koodam Street in Ward 48 as examples of roads that remained damaged after the utility work.
The immediate civic response includes additional pumping, monitoring and removal of fallen trees. Residents’ associations are seeking technical assessments and permanent drainage measures, while road restoration remains pending at locations affected by sewage pipeline works.
