Climate experts predict that extreme climate events will turn even worse in the future
Tamil Nadu's annual tryst with heavy rains is worsening with each passing year, but this year the low pressure over Bay of Bengal triggered the heaviest rainfall in Chennai since 2015. The deluge caused flooding of over 40 commercial and residential neighbourhoods and has claimed 14 lives besides damaging property worth crores. Vulnerable farmers have not been spared as nearly five lakh acres of standing paddy crops have been damaged.
The maximum reflection of the floods has been seen by urban Chennai. Flights were suspended due to the intense rainfall and other forms of transport halted. Climate experts predict that extreme climate events will turn even worse in future and there is an express need for coastal cities such as Chennai to prepare for storms, floods and sea ingress related problems.
Chennai also needs to manage its water bodies better so that unplanned development and real estate sharks do not consume the flood plains and lands adjoining water bodies that act as a critical buffer against sudden floods and rainfed deluges. Chennai especially has already lost essential water bodies to shopping hubs that have come up on lake beds and even the city airport which partially occupies the Adayar river floodplains. The city also needs to specifically declog the urban rivers of Cooum and Adayar this will help the rivers to absorb any sudden increase in water volume.
Chennai city has expanded in the south to encroach on a large wetland, Pallikaranai, where residential colonies, institutional areas and even a large garbage dump have been built. On the other hand, the mass rapid transport system has severely restricted the flow in Buckingham Canal, which was designed as a protective barrier against floods and sea ingress. In the past few decades, over 300 lakes, tanks and canals have disappeared and according to the civic administration, over 1.5 lakh illegal constructions choke the cityscape. But these time-honoured issues pale in comparison to the emerging threat of plastic waste that is now threatening to choke the water lifelines of Chennai city.
In the ongoing floods, plastic bags and covers are playing a devastating role. The civic bodies across Chennai have removed nearly 180 tonnes of banned plastic carry bags in the wake of nearly 400 complaints. The plastic waste was found to be responsible for water inundation in 476 streets as the waste blocked nearly 300 critical drain inlet points that are responsible for excess water to freely exit the streets.
In addition to this, discarded thermocol and rubber waste has also been seen wreaking havoc in the current floods in the city. These pollutants are also being seen as a severe threat to the Olive Ridley turtles whose nesting season is coming up soon.
The sudden spurt in plastic bag presence and the negative role played by the same has shocked the city civic officials and the residents alike. But conservationists and environmentalists are not taken aback as they have been voicing concern for the same for a long time. These conditions spell a disaster for the fragile marine ecosystem surrounding the city and unless urgent remedial measures are taken, the damage to nature could be irreversible.
Given the current role played by plastic in amplifying the Chennai floods, the government must strictly implement the ban on plastic and ensure that the use of single use plastics is permanently removed from our daily lives. If the manufacturing stops, so will the use. The Tamil Nadu government and civic authorities have a year to do this and make a difference before the next monsoon.
(The writer is an environmental journalist. The views expressed are personal.)