Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Chennai and its surrounding districts are lamenting that despite repeated flooding in industrial estates, little has been done to address the issue.
For instance, the Ambattur Industrial Estate, spread over 1,450 acres and housing over 1,800 units, always gets flooded during heavy rain. An entrepreneur at this estate said: “Every year, we have meetings with the government after the rain. We submit details on the waterlogging every year. But nothing much happens. Flooding here has been happening for several years now.”
“Surplus water from Ambattur lake passed through the north phase (third sector) of the industrial estate. This is the main reason for flooding this time,” G. Aravind, president, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturer’s Association, said. A valve manufacturer at the estate, said that despite having increased the height of walls and floors after 2019, water seeped in.
Mr. Aravind said though many units increased the height of the buildings, it had not helped much.
Bakul Patel, president of SIDCO Industrial Estate Villivakam Manufacturers Association, spoke of similar constraints. “Flooding occurs year on year. This is due to overflowing of water from Korattur lake to Villivakkam lake. From there, it enters through the residential area and into SIDCO industrial area,” he said.
He further said: “The newly-constructed storm-water drain that connects through the Padi bridge canal, into the Anna Nagar canal, is not sufficient for outflow of water. Moreover, it is blocked near SIDCO estate pump house. This needs to be rectified immediately.” Mr. Patel said plant and machinery damages stood at ₹30 crore. This industrial estate was started in 1980 under the World Bank project and it currently caters to major industries such as TVS Group, Ashok Leyland, Hyundai, MRF and Rane Group, among others.
The Vichoor Industrial Estate too faces problems during rain. “During the 2015 floods, the water level inside the estate increased to 9 feet. We incurred a loss of ₹100 crore. During the rain in 2021, water level went up to 3.5 feet. Now in 2023, it went up to 11 feet and most of the units were under water. The loss incurred till date is around ₹160 crore,” S.A. Shafique, president of the Vichoor Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association (VIEMA), said. Those running businesses in this estate said representations had been made to the government several times, but there was no solution yet.
MSME Minister T.M. Anbarasan told The Hindu, over phone, that water had been drained from the affected estates and that the government would be holding meetings with insurance firms and bankers this week to help MSMEs.
Roads that were damaged in industrial estates too would soon be rectified, he added. A source tracking the MSME sector in the State said the government should look at serious solutions because the industry was losing several crores during floods.
