Residents of flood-prone south Chennai can't see whether drain work on their street is finished, or which relief centre is ready for them, before the monsoon arrives.

The problem, broken down

Who it hurts

Households in low-lying localities of Sholinganallur, Perungudi and Madipakkam that flood in most heavy rains.

The moment

The days before the Northeast monsoon, deciding whether to move the car, stock up or leave, and the night water enters the house.

What people do today

Residents' associations write representations and wait for replies; progress on drains and relief centres is announced in review meetings and reaches residents through news reports.

Why it's unsolved

Drains, lake surplus channels and relief centres sit with different departments, and their status is not published street by street, so residents can't tell what has been fixed near them.

What solved looks like

A public monsoon map for south Chennai showing each relief centre with its facilities and opening status, drain stretches marked done or under way, and residents' requests for desilting or inspection with the date raised and any reply, in Tamil and English.

Builders still need to know

• Will the Corporation share relief centre and drain status in a form that can be updated during a storm?→
• Can residents' associations log requests on a shared map so the same bottleneck isn't reported many times?→
• How should the map work when power and mobile data fail during heavy rain?→