A major stormwater diversion project is being implemented by the Highways Department near the Elcot area to ensure that Perumbakkam and nearby localities off OMR remain flood-free this monsoon. The work, estimated at ?42 crore, aims to significantly improve the area’s flood resilience. According to V. E. Mathiyalagan, standing committee chairman for the Sholinganallur zone, a 1.7 km twin-cell culvert is being built to channel rainwater from the Perumbakkam marsh into the Buckingham Canal. “Earlier, a low-level bridge often caused flooding along Semmozhi Salai and in Perumbakkam during heavy rains. The Highways Department has now demolished that structure and begun constructing a high-level bridge. The work is progressing at a brisk pace,” he said. Perumbakkam’s entire drainage network flows into the adjoining Pallikaranai marshland. The Perumbakkam Main Road, which connects OMR and Medavakkam, cuts across this marsh, and officials said that stormwater drains along this stretch are currently being desilted. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Department is widening the Okkiyam Maduvu channel at a cost of ?27 crore. Although the waterway still has patches of hyacinth near KCG College of Technology, officials noted that CMRL is constructing two high-level bridges across Okkiyam Maduvu with a 205 m expanded waterway and an additional 1.5 m of vertical clearance to improve flow. Commuters, including K. Sathish Kumar from Radial Road, have urged the Highways Department to speed up completion of the macro stormwater drain linkage from Okkiyam Maduvu to the sea via Bethel Nagar to ensure smoother drainage during heavy rainfall.

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