Chief Minister MK Stalin has set up a one-man committee to probe flooding in Chennai’s Smart Cities Mission neighbourhoods, which went under water during heavy rains last November. T Nagar’s Smart Cities Mission areas Pondy Bazaar and GN Chetty road saw water inundation that was 3 foot high water due to the rains on November 22, 2021. These areas were inundated despite the Corporation spending Rs 110 crore to flood-proof the roads by building new storm water drains. Additionally, the civic body spent Rs 80 crore to restore the Mambalam Canal in T Nagar and built a Rs 39 crore pedestrian plaza in Pondy Bazaar, which too was submerged.
A government order said that the single-member committee appointed by CM Stalin will be led by PWC Davidar (IAS) and will look into all aspects of the Smart Cities Mission works in Chennai to probe any and all administration and implementation oversights.
As per the GO, the committee will investigate if the selection was in accordance with the guidelines of the Smart Cities Mission, what the impact of works selected under the Mission has been on development, whether the Smart Cities Special Purpose Vehicles were set up and functioned in accordance with the guidelines, whether grants by the state and Union government were released and utilised as per guidelines, whether due procedure was followed in awarding contracts, if measures were taken to ensure the quality of works implemented, if there are any major flaws that have been pointed out by any statutory authority and if there are factors or individuals responsible for flaws in implementation and other issues, if any.
This report should be submitted to the Government of Tamil Nadu within a period of three months from the date that the inquiry committee assumes charge. The order directed several authorities in the state in connection to render all assistance to the inquiry committee to discharge its responsibilities.
TNM earlier reported on what caused flooding in T Nagar’s Smart Cities Mission area in the November 2021 rains. Maps of the Storm Water Drains released by the Chennai Corporation showed that uneven drain networks and narrow drain sizes were some of the flaws which plagued the SWDs, triggering floods.
Due to unaligned storm water drains, water flowed in the reverse direction in many parts of the city. In T Nagar, reverse gradient flow was identified in 11 streets, including those covered by the Smart Cities Mission. Further, it was found that the flow of water in the Mambalam Canal was blocked by construction debris from the Smart Cities Mission works.
Chennai-based anti-corruption NGO Arappor Iyakkam convener Jayaram said that he had also filed a complaint regarding corruption in storm water drain projects in the Smart Cities Mission works.