Water enters homes in Rainbow Nagar during Saturday night rain

Despite precautionary measures adopted by the administration, several urban areas of Puducherry experienced waterlogging during the recent spell of rain. 

The rain that lashed Puducherry on Saturday night had led to waterlogging in several low-lying areas of Rainbow Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Venkata Nagar, Balaji Nagar, and adjoining places near these residential colonies. Certain residential areas in Reddiyarpalayam area and main roads, including the Sivaji Statue junction on East Coast Road, also faced inundation for a few hours during the rain.

The Irrigation wing of the Public Works Department estimates that the region recorded 9. 7 cm of rainfall between 5. 30 p.m on Saturday and 8. 30 a.m on Sunday. The worst affected places in the rain was Rainbow Nagar with water entering the ground floor of some houses in the 4th, 7th, 9th ,  and 11^th crosses of the residential colony.

“Water started receding only by Sunday evening. As our area is prone to waterlogging, immediately after heavy rain started we moved household items to the first floor. The entire premises of the house and ground floor got filled with slush,” Praseed Thambi, a resident of 4^th Cross Rainbow Nagar said.

Vinayakam, a resident of Krishna Nagar Main Road, said the flood mitigation measures have worked in certain places but still lot more needs to be done. “Many streets still face water stagnation. Water enters ground floor of several houses. People are more prepared these days in relocating household items, especially electronic equipment, during heavy rains. But we have to spend money and time for cleaning up the premises,” he said.

Anticipating heavy rain, the government had declared holiday for all schools in Puducherry on Monday but the region witnessed a dry spell throughout the day. Meanwhile, distant cautionary signal 3 was hoisted at the Puducherry port on Monday evening. 

Preparations in Yanam

With Indian Meteorological Department predicting the movement of the weather system that has formed in the Bay of Bengal towards Andhra Pradesh coast, the Regional Administration of Yanam region, an enclave of Puducherry situated close to Godavari District of AP, has geared up to meet any eventuality arising out of heavy rain. 

Minister for Public Works Malladi Krishna Rao, who represents Yanam region, has rushed to the enclave to oversee the preparations.