The basements or water sumps in some buildings are already filling up with water following the recent steady rains. This in an indication of the possibility of ground water causing problems inside apartment blcoks.
This burst of water is primarily because the ground water level in many areas of Mylapore is at about 4/5 feet, which means the ground cannot soak in extra water if the rain is steady and over prolonged period. It seeks outlets.
One campus off Dr Ranga Road is facing what is now a perennial monsoon time problem – its sump is filling up so fast when it rains that the water must be drained out continuously, else it will flood their parking lot and campus.
This happened last monsoon too.
The house owners have stationed a pump and use long, heavy-duty water pipes to drain the accumulated water, and this flows on to Dr Ranga Road; the pipe cannot be led into the newly built SWD because the drain is on the opposite side.
Passersby and residents are complaining at the wasted water leading to some civic issues locally.
Rain water expert Shekar Raghavan says this situation is an indicator of worse to follow if the monsoon strengthens in late November – since ground water here is at the level of 4/5 ft., water will begin to force out inside parking lots, campuses and even affect ground floor flats.
“Water will have to force itself out and flooding internally is a real possibility,” says Raghavan.
