Chennai:
For the hundreds of families residing in areas between the Ambattur lake and the Korattur lake, life hasn't exactly been easy.
Even three days after the rains have stopped, roads in parts of Ambattur, Pattaravakkam and Korattur are flooded not directly because of the heavy downpour but because of what the residents claim to be encroachments in the Ambattur lake area at Iyyapakkam.
The residents claim that hundreds of houses have encroached upon the land around the water body and every time the lake is full, they break open an outlet, letting the water in to residential areas. It's not just the residential areas that have been affected. Even commercial areas like the SIDCO industrial estate, housing close to 200 companies, have been affected and have shut shop for days together, incurring huge losses.
Residents living in Sivananda Nagar and MKB Nagar now walk an extra half hour to reach the main road. They say that the road has a large 10-feet pit and that it has been there for more than a decade. "In the rainy season, we have to walk for half-an-hour to get to the main road which otherwise will take 10 minutes. The pit is not visible when the road is under water and is a cause for accidents," says Sakuntala of Sivananda Nagar, Ambattur.
The residents allege that local authorities have found no solution to it. "Our councillor has been elected thrice but he is yet to find a solution to our problem. The big factories nearby dump their waste into the water and we have to live and walk in this stench," says Sudha, a resident.
As the water from the Ambattur lake flows through Sivananda Nagar and MKB Nagar to SIDCO Industrial Estate, close to 200 companies in the north phase of the estate have suffered loses.
"There are at least two to three spells and we had to close for a minimum of one week as we have to consider our workers' safety also," says one of the company owners Panchanadhan, as he supervises one of his employees removing the garbage from his flooded company premises.
"Every year, we face losses amounting to crores. There were seven outlets to the lake earlier and no boundaries at all. Now, after the encroachments, there is only one outlet. We even approached the Collector earlier but nothing has been done so far," says K Ayyappan, President, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers' Association.
While company owners worry about their businesses in the industrial area, residents in and around Annai Nagar, Korattur, who have spent many lakhs to build posh houses, now fear the overflowing water from the Ambattur lake and the snakes it brings.
"We spent a lot of money on houses here and we regret now. Though this area is close to Anna Nagar, we don't even have basic facilities. There are lots of snakes that swim in the stagnated water in the night. Last year, it was better. This year, water from the Ambattur lake is flowing into our area and it has only become worse," says a resident Geetha.
While residents and company owners have no idea when water will stop overflowing and blame the encroachers and local authorities, officials of the Avadi Municipality - the Ambattur Lake comes under this local body's jurisdiction - say they are helpless and have no authority to evict encroachers. "The encroachers keep coming back even if the Collector evicts them. We can only refer the issue to the PWD and the revenue department. The municipality has no authority," says Nasser, Chairman, Avadi Municipality.