Chennai: On Ennore High Road, opposite the Shastri Nagar bus stand, there was a waterbody more than five years ago. Today, the water is barely visible as the course has turned into a lush green of grass, hyacinth and garbage.Running from Tondiarpet along the high road towards Indian Oil Corporation, the canal, residents recall, once overflowed with water. Years of neglect coupled with lack of dredging have turned the flood buffer into a flood inducer. “More than 500 houses along the road and in interior areas of Shastri Nagar, Nedunchezhiyan Nagar, Nethaji Nagar and Karunanidhi Nagar are affected year after year during floods. The canal had a steady flow of water once, helping drain excess water during heavy rain — from as far as Tondiarpet. Now, the area floods during monsoon as overgrown plants reduce the width of the canal,” said S Sankari, resident of Shastri Nagar.Mosquito menace is another problem that residents face. “It is high time that the canal is dredged and widened,” said Anbu, a resident.Corporation zonal officials were unavailable for comment. An engineer from corporation, however, said the land belonged to Railways.Zonal chairman Netaji Ganesan said the waterbody was too small to be called a canal and denied that it was posing problems. “It is just a man-made pond. Widening work around the IOC was put on hold due to elections. When it resumes, we will see what can be done,” he added.
