After years of flood risk, Varadharajapuram residents hope for safer monsoons with new projects

Varadharajapuram, a residential suburb in Kancheepuram district, was in the news during the 2015 floods after a Central team visited the panchayat to assess flood damage to homes. Ten years later, this monsoon, residents have expressed hope of overcoming the challenges faced during the rains, as ‘cut-and-cover’ projects implemented by the State government have successfully diverted floodwaters to various waterbodies, including the Sembarambakkam lake. More projects are likely to be taken up to mitigate floods.

The panchayat was one of the prominent residential neighbourhoods developed in the 1970s, with more than 70 different layouts, including Royappa Nagar, which was developed in 1972 by employees of the Tamil Nadu Secretariat. It now has many vacant plots, as the flood risk has prevented owners from building homes.

Once the flood risk reduces, the area is expected to provide housing for a large number of people. Royappa Nagar, one of the 70 residential layouts in the panchayat, has 1,672 plots ranging in size from two grounds to one ground.

Federation of Varadharajapuram Residents’ Welfare Associations president V. Rajasekaran said Varadharajapuram was the residential area with the largest layout in Kancheepuram district, and that it began showing signs of urban development after the Outer Ring Road improved connectivity.

“This year, we did not experience flooding because of the cut-and-cover projects implemented to divert water. We also request the government to widen the ORR bridge across the Adyar river to prevent flooding, and to strengthen the entire stretch of the river bund. Some portions have already been strengthened,” he said.

Residents have also demanded the development of a park on the land earmarked for the purpose in the Royappa Nagar layout, and the construction of a community hall for the panchayat.

Infra demands

Even as bus connectivity has improved in Varadharajapuram after the construction of the Kilambakkam bus terminus, located five kilometres away, the government has not taken any initiative to utilise the 50-metre-wide strip of land along the ORR from Vandalur to Minjur for developing a railway line. Residents are concerned, as parts of this strip of land, which was earmarked by the CMDA for the railway line, have been used for creating other infrastructure, and a few encroachments have also been identified.

Panchayat president M. Selvamani said a sewage treatment plant to prevent pollution of the Adyar river is also one of the major demands of the residents. “Residents demand shutters, too, to prevent flooding when water level in Adyar river rises during the monsoon,” he said.